JOB PURPOSE

Reporting directly to the Head of Corporate Finance and to the CEO of AXA Global Re, the mission of the Lead Reinsurance Lawyer is to manage the legal aspects and the documentation of ceded reinsurance transactions to which certain Group companies are parties, including:

• Quota share and stop-loss reinsurance transactions (P&C and life);
• Longevity reinsurance/swaps (on an indemnity/parametric basis);
• Insurance-Linked Securities: Cat and Mortality Bonds;
• Industry wide loss warranties;
• Ensuring compliance with Solvency II requirements;
• Regulatory advice to AXA Global Re and key internal departments (Risk Management, Finance) on an on-going basis.

With respect to each transaction, this entails understanding the various legal aspects, assessing the legal risks and proposing legal solutions enabling AXA to comply with the applicable laws and the Group Standards.

CONTEXT & MAJOR CHALLENGE

The Lead Reinsurance Lawyer works on ceded reinsurance transactions for the Group which play a key role in AXA’s risk management and capital optimization, in accordance with its strategic plan (currently Ambition 2020). The Lead Reinsurance Lawyer must deliver pragmatic and commercial legal advice to the highest international standards in AXA’s inherently complex, international, highly regulated and ever-evolving environment.

Principal internal clients include AXA Global Re teams, Group Risk Management and Group Finance. One of the principal objectives of the Corporate Finance Team is to assist in securing risk transfer and capital treatment while ensuring that actions are taken in the best long-term interest of the Group and all stakeholders (including shareholders, policyholders and employees) and protecting the Group, the Board and management from legal, regulatory and reputational actions or risk.

The Lead Reinsurance Lawyer accordingly operates in a dynamic and challenging environment and has to be:

• time responsive: Lead Reinsurance Lawyer must co-ordinate the other corporate center teams and manage external counterparts in short timeframes;
• client driven: the Lead Reinsurance Lawyer must adapt to the different needs of a very wide and sophisticated client base;
• pragmatic and innovative: Lead Reinsurance Lawyer must assist the Head of Corporate Finance in devising new cutting edge and innovative legal structures to achieve commercial outcomes e.g. AXA was the first on the market with Cat & Mortality Bonds and longevity swaps;
• autonomous: the Head of Corporate Finance delegates responsibility to the Lead Reinsurance Lawyer for the management and negotiation of projects with reporting up on key issues.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Management of each project:

• Understanding the project in coordination with the relevant internal clients;
• Reporting key issues and milestones to the Head of Corporate Finance for discussion and sign off;
• Engaging external lawyers as agreed with the Head of Corporate Finance.

Analysis of legal risks and constraints, with external lawyers, where appropriate:

• Analyzing and preparing the transaction structure and calendar (including for post-closing actions);
• Identifying potential legal risks and risk mitigation mechanisms;
• Identifying and arranging for internal authorizations for the relevant project, including the necessary steps and calendar to obtain them.

Legal documentation:

• Negotiating, drafting/reviewing, together with external counsel where appropriate, the documentation for all reinsurance transactions, memoranda, presentations slides to the AXA SA Board of Directors, Group committees, Group management and other internal clients;
• Ensuring that the documentation produced is in accordance with Group Standards and applicable laws.

Contributing to internal know-how:

• Drafting internal know-how notes and présentations;
• Making internal présentations;
• Contributing to Group Legal’s procedures and précédents.

MAIN COMPETENCIES

Technical Expertise:

• Expertise in insurance law and finance law (capital markets, banking, security law) and related market practice;
• Knowledge of company and contract law, as well as applicable Solvency II requirements;
• Transactional experience (including negotiation) in the main types of reinsurance transaction.

Soft Skills:

• team player with enthusiasm for independent work;
• Ability to work in an international, multi-cultural and time-critical environment;
• Strong analytical capability;
• Excellent writing, communication and presentation abilities;
• Excellent transaction management abilities;
• Excellent client relationship management (both external and within AXA).

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