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Wealth Management Capital Markets Attorney VP/ED

Company Profile:

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries. As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence and strong team ethic. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career - a place for people to learn, to achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (MSWM) is one of the largest retail broker-dealers and serves the needs of individuals and small and mid-sized institutional clients through a network of over 15,000 financial advisors located throughout the US.

Department Profile:

Professionals within Legal and Compliance provide a wide range of services to our business units. They might help to structure a complex and sensitive cross-border transaction; advise on a new product introduction; develop a training program or defuse an investor dispute. They preserve the firm's invaluable reputation for integrity and protect the firm from sanctions with policies and procedures that meet regulatory requirements around the world. They also strive to maintain cooperative relationships with governmental policy makers and the regulatory and self-regulatory agencies that govern the firm's businesses.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Legal and Compliance Division is seeking to hire an Executive Director or Vice President (commensurate with experience) to provide legal coverage for its Capital Markets businesses. Specifically, the attorney will focus on the Firm's expansive Structured Investments distribution and trading business, as well as its Options, OTC Derivatives, FX and Precious Metals trading businesses, and provide other support to the Capital Markets businesses. The position will be based in Purchase, NY or Manhattan.

The lawyer will be part of a team of seven capital markets lawyers reporting to the head of the Capital Markets legal team. The Capital Markets business is responsible for new issue distribution of a wide range of securities products; fixed income, equity, options, OTC derivatives, FX, futures and precious metals trading in the secondary markets; and sales coverage for the Firm's financial advisors. The lawyer will have significant interaction with these business units and will work closely with the senior lawyers on the team. The lawyer will be a member of a broader group of advisory attorneys servicing MSWM's products and services, and the role will involve coordination with attorneys covering corresponding businesses within Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Group.

Wealth Management's Structured Investments business is an industry leader. The business structures and offers a wide breadth of SEC-registered and Reg S products issued by Morgan Stanley and an array of third-party issuers. The attorney will assist in reviewing deal structure and documentation, support platform and product enhancements, negotiate distribution agreements for onboarding new issuers, and advise on regulatory changes and developments, among other matters.

Wealth Management's Capital Markets business supports Options trading by its full-service brokerage and investment advisory clients. In addition, the team provides high net worth full-service clients with access to additional sophisticated trading strategies, including OTC derivatives, Futures, FX and Precious Metals, to meet their portfolio investing and hedging needs.

In addition, the attorney will advise on various business projects, both independently and in coordination with other team members, as necessary in connection with the team's coverage of the Firm's Syndicate, Trading and Executive Financial Services businesses. The attorney will also work closely with Compliance, Risk and the business units.

Primary Responsibilities:

The attorney will work closely with two Executive Director lawyers on the team who support the Structured Investments, Options, OTC Derivatives, FX and Precious Metals businesses. The following is an illustrative, non-exhaustive list of the types of responsibilities that the successful candidate will be closely involved in:

• Supporting Structured Investment product offerings and enhancements, including reviewing new payoff structures and underliers
• Negotiating third-party issuer distribution agreements and advising in connection with ongoing issuer diligence
• Advising on complex trading strategies by high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients
• Advising on regulatory changes, technology and operational builds, policies and procedures, audits and regulatory exams and inquiries
• Reviewing and negotiating client account documentation related to capital markets products and services 
• Reviewing and interpreting relevant statutes, rules and regulations applicable to Wealth Management products and services
• Maintaining form agreements and disclosures, as well as working on discrete projects and other matters as appropriate 
• Reviewing marketing materials and presentations

Experience/Qualifications:

• J.D. required.
• A minimum of five (5) years relevant experience at a top-quality law firm and/or in-house experience, preferably with a financial services firm (including a bank, broker-dealer or private equity fund). 
• Experience with capital markets and securities legal work, and ideally in structured investments. Experience with options and other swaps and derivatives products (e.g., FX, OTC Options, Futures) beneficial but not required.
• Experience reviewing and interpreting statutes, rules and regulations, with knowledge of U.S. securities laws (including Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and associated FINRA rules).
• Experience on broker-dealer/FINRA matters a plus, along with related experience with applicable ERISA and tax issues.
• Candidates should have experience in complex transactions and projects and must be able to work independently when needed and collaborate with cross functional groups. 

Skills desired:

• Professional maturity, confidence, presence and initiative
• Excellent judgment and analytical skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong management and administrative skills
• Teamwork and ability to multi-task in fast paced environment

The position is hybrid (3 days in office) following an initial in office period

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

It is the policy of the Firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sex stereotype, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy, veteran or military service status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $110,000.00 and $190,000.00 per year at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.