Financial Services Regulatory Associate - Dubai

About the role

You will join CMS’s fast growing Financial Services Regulatory practice in the UAE, based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, working closely with the Financial Regulatory Partner on a broad range of non-contentious regulatory matters across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Whilst the focus of the practice is non-contentious advisory, the team has also worked on a number of contentious regulatory advisory matters and therefore there is the opportunity to get involved in a broad spectrum of advisory work.  The team advises a diverse client base including local and international banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, payment service providers, fintech and technology providers, government entities, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), custodians, investment advisory firms and private wealth businesses.

The practice supports clients throughout the full regulatory lifecycle from market entry and licensing to ongoing compliance, product development and cross-border expansion. The role offers significant client exposure, responsibility for managing workstreams, and the opportunity to contribute to the continued growth of CMS’s financial services offering in the region.  Given the nature of the team with a direct working relationship with the Partner, it is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and proactive individual to develop their skill-set in a fast-growing market and an opportunity to build long-lasting strong client relationships.  

In this role, you can expect to get involved in a variety of work including:

• Advising on regulatory licensing and authorisation applications before UAE and Saudi regulators (including the DFSA, FSRA, CBUAE, SCA/CMA and KSA regulators), as well as variations of permissions and regulatory change projects.
• Advising clients on ongoing conduct of business, governance and compliance obligations, including client onboarding, marketing and financial promotion rules, suitability and disclosure requirements.
• Supporting clients on outsourcing and third-party arrangements, including regulatory assessments, drafting and reviewing outsourcing agreements, and advising on regulatory notifications and approvals.
• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating regulatory-facing documentation and client documentation, including terms and conditions, policies and procedures, and disclosures.
• Advising on new product launches, business model changes and innovative offerings (including fintech, payments and digital assets), from a regulatory structuring and compliance perspective.
• Advising on cross-border regulatory issues, including the provision of services into the UAE and Saudi Arabia from overseas and interaction with extraterritorial regulatory regimes.
• Preparing thought leadership articles and deliver training to clients on a number of regulatory topics.

About you

We will invest in your ongoing training and development to support your professional goals and help you to thrive in your role from day one. Our opportunities are open to all suitably qualified applicants, so to be considered for this role, you must meet the following skills and experience:

• England & Wales qualified lawyer with strong post-qualification experience in the same firm they trained and were retained in.  Experience should be in a leading international law firm.   PQE should be between 4-6 years.
• Demonstrable experience advising on financial regulatory matters relevant to banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, payment services, fintech or similar regulated financial institutions.
• Strong understanding of regulatory frameworks and principles in the UAE and/or Saudi Arabia (or a clear ability to translate experience from other major financial centres such as the United Kingdom into the regional context).
• Experience managing matters with a degree of autonomy, including direct client interaction, coordinating workstreams and supervising more junior team members.
• Excellent drafting skills and the ability to provide clear, practical and commercially focused regulatory advice.
• A proactive, collaborative and detail-oriented approach, with a strong interest in developing a long-term practice in the Middle East financial services market.
• Ability to engage in certain business development activities such as attendance of conferences, events and creating thought leadership pieces.  

What’s in it for you?

As a future facing firm, we take a bold, dynamic and agile approach to help clients of every size face the future with confidence. We empower and support our people to realise their ambitions through access to high quality, interesting and engaging work alongside a competitive package.

Please note that we have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.