Assistance Vice President, Legal & Company Secretary
Abu Dhabi Finance PJSC
Total years of experience :10 years, 7 Months
• Provide legal counsel and guidance to the officers of the institution, senior management, and the Board of Directors on all legal matters relevant to the business, including Finance, Governance, Policies, rules and regulations, and laws pertaining to financial sector, real estate transactions, contracts and grants, tax matters, workers’ compensation, liability and insurance matters, purchases, affirmative action, and other matters as may be requested.
• Anticipate and identify legal issues and advise officers of the institution and senior management to develop legal strategies and solutions to eliminate financial risk.
• Review, research, interpret, and prepare both written and oral opinions on a wide variety of legal issues.
• Draft, review, and approve policies and procedures, regulations, bylaws, and other legal documents.
• Represent and oversee the representation of the institution in judicial proceedings, and in negotiations.
• Develop and manage annual budget for the department and perform periodic cost and productivity analysis.
• Convene and service annual general meetings (AGMs) and Board meetings (produce agendas, take minutes, draft resolutions and handle meeting correspondence).
• Implement processes and regulations to help ensure solid management of the organization and compliance with legislation.
• Ensure that best corporate governance practices and standards are adopted and followed by the Board of Directors.
• Managed the Compliance function during a transition period and remain a support point to the Compliance department.
• Led numerous projects related to the restructure of the group companies.
• Aligned business plans and SOPs with the applicable laws and regulations.
• Drove the setup of a corporate SPV of the group’s foreign shareholder in the UAE.
• Drafted and reviewed high monetary value agreements/contracts and other written legal instruments.
• Identified and mitigated legal and compliance risks.
• Advised the business on employment, venture capital, private equity, M&A, IT, marketing, governance, compliance, finance, banking, and IP.
• Managed the group companies’ litigation portfolio and achieved high recovery rate.
• Assisted the General Counsel in designing efficient strategies for the department.
• Managed the Regulatory Unit.
• Handled ongoing cases and advised management accordingly.
• Liaised with relevant departments to ensure legal risks are identified and appropriate course of action is taken.
• Interpreted laws and regulations, conducted training, and disseminated relevant legal requirements to staff.
• Reviewed and drafted contracts, agreements, memoranda of understanding, memoranda of association, articles of association, board resolutions, shareholders resolutions, notices, letters of intent, declarations, internal policies, and other various legal instruments.
• Communicated and negotiated with external parties (regulators, external counsels, public authorities etc.
• Met clients and collated facts of cases.
• Conducted research on relevant laws, regulations, and legal texts.
• Organized and maintained documents in both physical and electronic filing systems.
• Gathered and arranged evidence and other legal documents for senior attorneys’ review.
• Drafted reports to help senior consultants/attorneys prepare for trials.
• Drafted memoranda, correspondence and legal instruments as was required for court proceedings.
• Obtained affidavits and other formal statements that were used as evidence in court.
• Helped lawyers during trials by handling exhibits, taking notes, or reviewing trial transcripts.
• Filed exhibits, briefs, appeals and other legal documents with the court and opposing counsel.
• Briefed clients, witnesses, lawyers as part of the preparation for court/expert hearings and meetings.
• Provided support to the lawyers and consultants in preparing, revising, and finalizing legal and written documents.
• Reviewed, proofread, and assisted with briefing the lawyers on documents, reports, memos, briefings, presentations and forms.
• Formatted and implemented styles of drafting of legal documents.
• Assisted with producing print ready documents for review by lawyers.
• Ensured supporting materials (agendas, signage, and A-V requirements, exhibits) were provided for meetings, dispositions and events.
• Supported as a back-up to all administrative staff, as was required.
• Proactively contributed to office activities to ensure an efficient and cohesive team environment is achieved.
• Managed communications and correspondence (phone, voicemail, email, mail) and brought action items forward to respective team member’s attention.
• Managed legal calendar, including scheduling/arranging meetings, booking meeting rooms, sending invitations and reminders when needed.
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