Assistant Vice President, Legal

Do you want your voice heard and your actions to count?

Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups. Across the globe, we’re 150,000 colleagues, striving to make a difference for every client, organization, and community we serve. We stand for our values, building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world’s most trusted financial group, it’s part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed and agility. This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career.

Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

MUFG is seeking an Assistant Vice President, Legal to join their team in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is an excellent opportunity for you to assume a central role in facilitating sophisticated banking and finance transactions, encompassing debt capital markets, securitizations, project finance, derivatives, and structured finance arrangements. You will be entrusted with providing transactional support and legal advice to internal stakeholders and engaging collaboratively with cross-functional and cross-border teams throughout the organization.  

What you'll do:

In the capacity of Assistant Vice President, Legal based in Kuala Lumpur, you will undertake a broad spectrum of responsibilities ranging from transactional support for significant banking projects through to advisory work on regulatory matters.

• Render comprehensive legal counsel and support across an extensive range of banking and finance transactions, including but not limited to debt capital markets activities, securitizations, project finance undertakings, structured finance matters, transaction banking issues, derivatives and trade finance.

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide variety of financial agreements such as loan agreements, security documents, credit facilities, and ancillary financing documentation to ensure precision and adherence to legal and regulatory requirements.

• Advise business units on the structuring and development of new products by offering pragmatic legal solutions tailored to innovative or complex offerings.

• Prepare and update terms and conditions for deposit-related products as well as bank guarantees, standby letters of credit (SBLC), etc., ensuring all documentation complies with applicable standards.

• Formulate strategies for mitigating legal risks while ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations throughout all organizational activities.

• Engage closely with internal stakeholders including business, HR, finance, risk management, compliance, operations and product teams to deliver seamless legal support that aligns with corporate objectives.

• Monitor ongoing legal and regulatory developments impacting banking and finance practices to proactively address potential implications for the organization.

• Provide guidance on creditor rights issues, debt restructuring strategies, distressed asset transactions, offering clear direction during challenging circumstances.

• Oversee external counsel relationships by managing selection processes, retention decisions, cost controls, and overall legal expenditure within your remit.

• Participate actively in relevant industry forums and working groups to represent the organization’s interests whilst remaining apprised of emerging trends.

What you bring:

To excel in this role, you must demonstrate foresight in identifying potential legal risks whilst maintaining strong connections with internal stakeholders who depend upon your expertise. Your professional background encompasses direct involvement in supporting complex banking transactions—whether from within a prominent financial services provider or through client-facing engagements at a leading law firm.

• Possess a law degree or equivalent qualification from an accredited educational institution (e.g. LLB, CLP).

• Have accrued at least three years’ experience either in-house within a financial services entity or at a reputable law firm providing related legal support to global financial institutions.

• Demonstrate substantive experience delivering legal advice across areas such as credit facilities, corporate lending, project finance, debt capital markets transactions, restructuring/insolvency matters. Derivatives experience would be a plus.

• Exhibit proficiency in drafting and spotting issues in complex transactional documents and related documentation required for sophisticated financial dealings.

• Display adept negotiation skills coupled with the ability to communicate clearly with both technical audiences and non-legal stakeholders alike.

• Show willingness to acquire knowledge in new areas as necessary to support evolving business initiatives or product launches within the organization.

• Demonstrate attention to detail alongside sound judgement when assessing risks or resolving problematic issues efficiently.

• Understand commercial reasons behind transactions enabling you to balance legal requirements with broader business objectives effectively.

• Bring robust research capabilities combined with technical drafting acumen allowing you to identify issues early whilst delivering practical solutions.

We regret to inform that only shortlisted applicants will be notified.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is an equal opportunity employer. We view our employees as our key assets as they are fundamental to our long-term growth and success. MUFG is committed to hiring based on merit and organsational fit, regardless of race, religion or gender.