General Counsel

RQD is seeking a General Counsel to serve as the company’s senior legal executive and a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board of Directors, and leadership team.

This role requires deep, hands-on experience with SEC and FINRA regulation applicable to broker-dealers, particularly carrying, clearing, and custody businesses. The General Counsel will advise on regulatory strategy, examinations, commercial agreements, product development, corporate governance, financings, employment matters, disputes, and global regulation.

This is a highly practical and hands-on role. The successful candidate must be able to analyze complex regulatory issues, make clear recommendations, and work closely with Compliance, Risk, Operations, Technology, Finance, and commercial teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as RQD’s senior legal advisor on SEC and FINRA rules applicable to broker-dealers, clearing firms, carrying firms, and custody businesses.
• Advise on customer protection, net capital, margin, books and records, supervision, regulatory reporting, clearing arrangements, custody, and financial responsibility requirements.
• Support new products and business initiatives, including securities lending, fully paid lending, portfolio margin, overnight trading, digital assets, tokenized securities, and international client arrangements.
• Lead or oversee SEC and FINRA inquiries, investigations, and enforcement matters.
• Partner with Compliance and Risk on client activity, account restrictions, customer exits, low-priced securities, market manipulation concerns, omnibus accounts, and cross-border activity.
• Negotiate and draft clearing, custody, brokerage, securities-lending, technology, vendor, strategic partnership, and other complex commercial agreements.
• Advise on corporate governance, Board matters, financings, strategic investments, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.
• Oversee employment matters, litigation, claims, investigations, subpoenas, privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, and outside counsel.
• Build scalable legal processes, templates, policies, and approval frameworks.
• Identify and communicate material legal and regulatory risks to senior management and the Board.

Required Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state bar.
• Approximately 8 or more years of relevant legal experience.
• Significant experience advising SEC- and FINRA-regulated broker-dealers.
• Deep working knowledge of the regulatory framework applicable to carrying, clearing, custody, or self-clearing broker-dealers.
• Direct experience with SEC, FINRA, exchange, or other securities-regulatory examinations or investigations.
• Strong knowledge of broker-dealer financial responsibility, customer protection, supervision, margin, books and records, and clearing obligations.
• Experience advising senior executives and Boards of Directors.
• Experience negotiating sophisticated financial-services or technology agreements.
• Ability to provide practical, independent advice without excessive reliance on outside counsel.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience as a General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, or senior regulatory counsel at a regulator, clearing firm, broker-dealer, exchange, ATS, custodian, market maker, fintech, or other regulated securities business.
• Experience working at the SEC, FINRA, an exchange, or another securities regulator.
• Familiarity with SEC Rules 15c3-1, 15c3-3, 17a-3 and 17a-4, Regulation T, FINRA margin rules, and applicable clearing-agency requirements.
• Experience with securities lending, fully paid lending, portfolio margin, options, omnibus accounts, foreign financial institutions, digital assets, or tokenized securities.
• Experience supporting capital raises, private equity investors, and high-growth companies.

What We Are Looking For:

• A true securities-regulatory expert who understands how clearing firms operate in practice.
• A practical, commercially minded lawyer who can distinguish material risk from theoretical risk.
• Strong judgment and the confidence to provide direct advice in high-stakes or ambiguous situations.
• Someone who can say “no” when necessary, while remaining focused on finding a compliant path to “yes.”
• The ability to explain complex legal and regulatory issues in plain English.
• A low-ego, intellectually honest leader who takes ownership and works well across functions.
• A builder who wants to create a legal function that can scale with the business.

RQD is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.