Sr. Counsel - Regulatory

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system. The Senior Counsel role is a remote role based in the UK or the EU, and will report into the EU/UK Regulatory Legal team. The role exists to own the significant volume of ongoing, business-as-usual regulatory work that currently falls to a small group of very senior lawyers – freeing them to focus on strategic licensing initiatives, complex transactions, and team leadership. You will operate as a practical legal generalist with focus on product advice, cryptoasset regime compliance, and payments & e-money compliance.

Responsibilities

Product advice covering Payward’s growing offerings in the EU and UK (Krak card, payments and staking, among other things); Cryptoasset Regime Compliance (under MiCA/EU or in the UK) — advising on regulatory obligations for CASPs including supporting the steady flow of regulatory queries, notifications and supervisory correspondence that keeps our licensed entities compliant and our regulatory relationships strong; Payments & e-money compliance — advising on regulatory obligations affecting our e-money and payment accounts and supporting related workstreams as they arise; Provide legal support on cryptoasset, e-money and payment services regulatory requirements, including advising on account-access obligations and related operational compliance questions; Support the team’s active licensing applications and other in-flight EU/UK licensing or registration workstreams, including compiling application materials and coordinating with outside counsel; Provide regulatory support on corporate transactions and structural changes affecting EU/UK entities (e.g., change-of-control notifications, corporate client migrations); Support the day-to-day relationship with regulators for our licensed entities; Translate complex regulatory frameworks (e.g., MiCA and the UK Cryptoasset Regime, CBI and FCA rulebooks, AML/CTF, DORA, outsourcing requirements, and e-money and payment services regulation) into pragmatic, actionable guidance for the business; Foster a culture of clarity, favouring plain-English communication, measurable risk tradeoffs, and decision-ready recommendations

Requirements

Qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister of England & Wales, Irish Solicitor/Barrister, or equivalent admitted in an EU Member State); 10+ years’ post-qualification experience (PQE) in financial services regulatory law gained at a regulated financial services institution (e.g., a bank, payment institution, broker-dealer, exchange, or crypto services provider) or in a law firm/private practice supporting such clients, with demonstrated ability to independently own BAU regulatory workstreams; Direct experience supporting regulator engagement (e.g., with the CBI, FCA, or an equivalent EU competent authority), including notifications, information requests, and supervisory correspondence; Substantive experience advising on MiCA or the UK Cryptoasset Regime (i.e., FCA authorisation for regulated cryptoasset activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026) — experience with one regime is sufficient; both is not required; Substantive experience with e-money and payment services regulation in the EU or UK (experience in one jurisdiction is sufficient; both is not required), including account-access and open banking obligations; Experience in AML/CTF (anti-money laundering / counter-terrorist financing), including advising on related policies, controls, and regulatory expectations; Experience advising on outsourcing arrangements and operational resilience compliance (e.g., Digital Operational Resilience Act in the EU, or the FCA/PRA operational resilience regime in the UK); Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills with crisp, plain-English writing; Ability to efficiently and confidently distill complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyer stakeholders; Pragmatic, commercially accountable approach to legal and regulatory risk that prioritises providing stakeholders with a useful range of options and clear recommendations; Comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy and owning a broad, fast-moving BAU workload from day one

Nice to have

Familiarity with MiFID II and its application to investment services, including derivatives, equities, and emerging tokenised financial instruments; Experience supporting change-of-control notifications or other regulatory aspects of corporate transactions; An authentic interest in crypto and digital assets, and familiarity with Payward’s and competitors’ products