Senior Legal Counsel, Wintermute
3-5 days a week in office
Algorithmic trading firm in digital assets
Posted today
Algorithmic trading firm in digital assets
21-100 employees
Posted today
3-5 days a week in office
21-100 employees
Company mission
To enable, empower and advance the truly decentralized world for more transparent, fair and efficient markets and products.
Role
Who you are
- We are looking for candidates with a strong financial services regulatory background and cross-border experience in the UK, US and EU
- The ideal candidate will leverage their traditional financial markets experience and apply it to Wintermute’s digital asset trading business, including proprietary trading and liquidity provisioning in spot crypto assets, derivatives and tokenized financial instruments
- 7-10 years experience as a practising financial markets regulatory lawyer at a top-tier US/UK law firm
- Extensive and demonstrable experience in advising on cross-border financial services regulatory matters (contentious and non-contentious) as it applies to proprietary trading firms as well as proven experience dealing with regulatory agencies such as the FCA, ESMA, SEC etc
- Strong knowledge of UK FSMA, EU MiFiD or similar tradfi and digital asset regulatory regimes
- Expertise in responding to, handling and managing regulatory enquiries, document requests and commercial disputes, advising senior stakeholders on and mitigating regulatory and commercial risks in a practical manner
- An inherent sense of self-motivation to take ownership and control and deliver on projects by being hands-on and identifying the right external resources to solve specific questions within a project
- Prior in-house experience in a regulated environment in the digital assets industry
- Experience and knowledge of Singapore PSA and SFA and dealing with the MAS
- An interest in and/or a strong understanding of the contractual and commercial issues relevant to proprietary trading firms (for e.g. experience with drafting and negotiating trading and lending agreements)
What the job involves
- This candidate will have an opportunity to shape Wintermute’s global regulatory strategy and lead policy discussions with the UK, US and EU regulators, as well as commercial trading negotiations
- This role involves close collaboration with our regulatory, business, and product teams worldwide
- Advise and lead on global regulatory matters with a focus on relevant financial services regulations in the UK, US and EU including UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“UK FSMA”), EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulations (“MiCAR”)
- Advise the business on regulatory licence applications and work closely with stakeholders across Compliance, Finance, Operations and other relevant teams to ensure a practical and operationally feasible implementation of regulatory obligations
- Lead and manage the mitigation of cross-border regulatory and litigation risks affecting the firm, including supporting the compliance function with enquiries from regulators and third parties, and utilise external counsel where appropriate to achieve the desired outcomes
- Draft, negotiate and advise the business on a range of trading and commercial agreements in relation to our business lines (OTC, liquidity provisioning, exchange agreements, lending agreements and others)
- Support and collaborate with the business and control functions to ensure that the firm’s trading agreement templates are fit-for-purpose and in compliance with applicable regulations as well as Wintermute’s global regulatory positions
- Conduct legal analysis and research on novel legal issues arising from new markets or products (e.g., tokenized investment funds and securities), and provide compliant but commercially viable legal solutions in uncertain or evolving regulatory environments
- Monitor and assess the implications of the evolving global financial markets regulatory landscape (traditional and digital assets) as it may apply to Wintermute and engage with regulators and policymakers, including the FCA, SEC, CFTC and ESMA
- Contribute to a wide range of legal matters depending on skills, preferences and company needs, including trading negotiations, commercial disputes, employment, and corporate projects
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Recent developments in mobile applications and financial tech have resulted in increased demand for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, and this growing demand is putting pressure on traditional market makers. Ultimately, the increased scale and complexity of the new digital asset landscape has exposed inefficiencies in existing liquidity providers.
Wintermute uses an algorithmic approach to provide market-making services that facilitate digital asset liquidity with long-term scaling and efficiency in mind. The company currently provides its market-making services to over 50 centralized and decentralized trading platforms, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.
The company has taken a unique approach towards market making by operating with the assumption that digital asset markets are only going to get bigger and more complex. By streamlining the market making process with algorithmic automation and thus optimizing efficiency, Wintermute presents itself as a future-proof solution for the rapidly scaling digital asset industry.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Employee endorsements
Nice people
"Very nice, motivated colleagues. Culture is strong, activities such as events and even an annual outing allows you to connect and make friends...."
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Jan 2021
$20m
SERIES B
Jul 2020
$2.8m
SERIES A
Total funding: $24.8m
Company benefits
- A unique opportunity to work on very interesting projects, get the level of responsibility and ownership that would be unlikely at any other project or trading firm
- A unique opportunity to join one of the strongest and most successful DeFi teams globally
- With Wintermute you don’t make a bet on a single product, platform, chain or technology; we’ll win if DeFi wins as a whole
- Great company culture: informal, non-hierarchical, ambitious, highly professional yet collaborative and entrepreneurial
- Option to work from London or Singapore offices, as well as remotely; we generally prefer at least 60% working from the office but are open to remote candidates
- Aligned incentive structure: high upside from performance-based variable pay with very transparent bonus system
- We offer standard perks too, like pension, private health insurance and free food, but that’s probably not the right reason to join us
Company values
- Ambitious: We set the most ambitious goals. We set the highest standards for ourselves and work hard. We play to win
- Collaborative: We go above and beyond to help our partners and counterparties grow. We work as a team, not as siloed groups and individuals. We are united by common goals and values
- Entrepreneurial: We love building new innovative things. We move very fast and focus on the results. We empower everyone from day 1 to act like an owner
- Meritocratic: We are non-hierarchical, informal, and direct. We focus on results above seniority and experience. We generously reward results
Company HQ
Westminster, London, UK
Articles
Leadership
Evgeny Gaevoy
(CEO)Holds an Executive MBA from London Business School. Joined Optiver as an Index Derivatives Trader, and was eventually made Head of ETF Business Expansion.
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