Regulatory Lawyer / Senior Lawyer, Europe & Americas

Role Title: Regulatory Lawyer/ Senior Lawyer, Europe & Americas 

Role location: New York    

About Westpac: We are Australia’s first bank and oldest company, and one of four major banking organisations in Australia. This opportunity sits in our New York office working for Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB), the division of Westpac, which services the needs of our corporate, institutional, and governmental clients.

About the Team: The Europe & Americas (E&A) Legal team is a collegiate corporate legal team providing high quality advice to support the international aspirations of WIB, a Division of Westpac Group.  Through partnership with key internal and external stakeholders, this role will support the Westpac Group’s international legal and risk strategy by influencing, negotiating and consulting.  Our legal advice is accurate, timely, cost effective and commercial. You will provide US regulatory advice and legal support to WIB’s institutional business in Europe & Americas.  These businesses provide finance solutions for Westpac’s institutional and corporate clients operating outside of Australia, predominantly in America, the UK and Europe via the Financial Markets (FM) and Corporate & Institutional Bank (CIB) lines of business (LOBs).  In addition, you will provide legal advice to our US broker dealer, Westpac Capital Markets LLC

How will I help?

• Provide high-quality legal advice across a broad spectrum of US financial regulatory matters, including banking, securities and broker‑dealer regulation, capital markets and derivatives, financial market infrastructure and supervisory expectations under key regulatory frameworks including those of the Federal Reserve, OCC, SEC and FINRA.
• Provide legal counsel to the FM and CIB LOBs, participate in new product proposals and strategic initiatives, provide subject matter expertise and interpretations of relevant US laws, rules, regulations and industry practices, and advise business management on legal and regulatory risks to the business.
• Support New York Branch and the US broker dealer with in‑branch regulatory, supervisory and governance issues. This includes advising on ongoing compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, regulatory engagement and exam support and a wide range of branch‑level legal matters typical of a growing US platform.
• Lead discrete regulatory initiatives—including operational resilience, third‑party risk management, outsourcing and governance enhancements—to ensure New York Branch and broker‑dealer policies, procedures and controls remain appropriate, effective and fit‑for‑purpose in a dynamic regulatory environment.
• Proactively identify, evaluate and contribute to the appropriate management of legal, regulatory and reputational risk by collaborating with second line compliance and the first line business controls team, follow relevant legal developments, participate in internal projects and escalate as appropriate.
• Ensure external legal resources are properly and efficiently selected and used, and ensure output produced by external counsel complies with our policies and requirements.
• Clearly communicate and appropriately escalate issues to the Head of Legal, E&A.
• Build and maintain stakeholder relationships with relevant business stakeholders in WIB International and Legal & Secretariat (L&S) colleagues (in particular, work closely with other colleagues across E&A Legal in New York and London and WIB Legal in Sydney) to ensure efficient and effective execution of legal support.
• Contribute to the strategic and operational performance of L&S by contributing new ideas and initiatives, developing “house views”, function-wide improvements and sharing knowledge

What’s in it for me?  

You’ll be joining a highly supportive and collaborative team with international coverage during a period of Group Executive backed growth plans for WIB. In this role, you’ll be working in a collaborative and supportive team and work with senior stakeholders across our international offices. 

Westpac in NY offer comprehensive range of benefits including flexibility and various leave entitlements. This includes generous annual leave entitlement with purchase leave options, 100% employer funded Private Medical Insurance, and participation in a 401(k) plan with profit share contributions. Fixed compensation range for this position is between $200,000K - $250,000 (depending on experience) + bonus. 

What do I need?

Knowledge, Experience & Capabilities

• Admitted as an attorney in New York, 3 - 7 years PQE.
• Top tier private practice or in-house legal experience supporting financial services businesses. 
• In-depth knowledge of the US regulatory system in general and specifically knowledge of Federal Reserve, OCC, FINRA and SEC rules and regulations applicable to banks and broker dealers.
• Knowledge of debt capital markets products, policies and procedures with an ability to reconcile regulatory requirements with product and operational needs.
• Broad legal appetite, comfort with operating outside narrow specialisms and a strong sense of ownership within a lean Legal team.
• Effective stakeholder engagement skills. 
• Excellent judgement and problem-solving skills and ability to work autonomously.
• Collaborative and proactive team player with a growth mindset.
• Experience with CFTC and NFA rules and regulations applicable to swap dealers (Desirable) 
• Familiarity with Canadian securities regulations ((Desirable). 
• Experience with digital assets regulation ((Desirable). 

 

What’s it like to work here?  

When you join, you’ll become part of the broader Westpac family – where we aim to be a friendly, switched-on team working for a single purpose - Creating Better Futures Together – it’s what we do, who we are and why we come to work every day. As an equal opportunity employer, we’re proud to have created a culture where people can be their best, in an environment that values diversity and flexibility.

Within Westpac, you will be part of the Institutional Banking division, where our vision is to be a high performing and innovative institutional bank, committed to enabling the growth of our global clients, our economy, and delivering sustainable shareholder returns.

How do I Apply? 

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