Vice President, Group Legal

About Fwd Group

FWD Group (1828.HK) is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 34 million customers across 10 markets, including BRI Life in Indonesia. FWD’s customer-led and tech-enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. FWD Group is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 1828.

For more information, please visit www.fwd.com

Purpose

• Leading, executing and providing legal advice and support to the FWD Group, particularly on (a) Treasury transactions (debt financing, bond/debt issuance, loans, refinancing) (b) Investments, including strategic partnerships with investment managers, investments in private and public equities, bonds, investment funds, PE  (c) Reinsurance transactions (d) HR-related matters (e) General commercial and regulatory matters as required
• Providing legal advice in relation to Hong Kong Listing Rules, including connected transactions, notifiable transactions, employment matters
• Providing leadership to the Group Legal team and senior management of FWD Group and Business Units, and supporting the Group General Counsel in relation to the same

Key Accountabilities

• Work closely with Group General Counsel in playing a leadership and managerial role in the Group Legal team, such as people/team strategy and management, devising Group Legal operational model, supervision and mentoring of junior members of the team, budgets
• Provide exceptional legal advice, legal leadership and timely and efficient execution of relevant transactions listed above
• Advise senior stakeholders when significant matters are escalated for discussion and approval, including senior stakeholders from the Business Units on legal considerations relating to the matters described above, especially in weighing legal, reputational and commercial considerations
• Act as the primary Group Legal liaison with, and lead Group Legal in dealing with legal teams in certain Business Units, providing oversight and support on various local matters
• Manage relationships with outside counsel to ensure that they deliver high-quality and practical advice in a timely and cost-effective manner

Qualifications / Experience

• Singapore/Hong Kong law qualified (will consider other common law qualifications)
• At least 12 years of finance and corporate law experience, from a combination of private practice and in-house experience (preferably working in an insurance company or another regulated financial institution)

Knowledge & Technical Skills

• A proven legal leader, with demonstrated experience in stakeholder management including c-suite and board of directors
• Exceptional and effective communication skills
• Strong project management skills
• Strong drafting and writing skills
• Solid understanding of insurance companies or other financial institutions
• Demonstrated experience in leading and executing complex corporate transactions, including investment funds, debt financing transactions, capital markets and reinsurance transactions
• Experience in financial services regulation (including insurance) in Hong Kong and the markets in which FWD operates
• Experience in HR matters, including employee share plans, HR investigations a bonus
• Excellent knowledge of the law including Hong Kong Companies Ordinance and Hong Kong Listing Rules