Season 3: Episode 3: Paula Redondo Pereira
Head of Regulatory Affairs at Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Paula Redondo Pereira
Head of Regulatory Affairs at Luxembourg Stock Exchange
How did she secure the top law job at a global talent hub?
Paula runs the regulatory affairs at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Her job involves speaking with stakeholders such as finance ministers from the Europe Union in the five languages she speaks fluently. As it turns out that running the legal department of a stock exchange is similar to diplomatic work in many ways. That’s why she finds inspiration from lawyer-diplomats such as Ambassador Bob Sherman, the co-lead counsel for hundreds of victims from the Boston clergy abuse scandal, which was the subject of the movie Spotlight, the winner of Academy Awards for the Best Motion Picture of the Year in 2016.
What are the most meaningful takeaways from her U.S. legal education?
What is the most important lawyering skills that enables her to excel in an international legal career?
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Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Lisbon, Portugal. I went to university and received my first law degree in Lisbon.
Why did you choose to study law?
I love reading and the art of communication. As a child, I was always eager to share my opinions. Law seems to be a natural fit.
What languages do you speak?
Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. And I learned German but haven't practice much.
Tell us about your work at Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
I has worked in capital markets for five years, before I joined the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. And I'm in charge of all regulatory aspects to stock exchange, including monitoring all international, European and national regulatory developments that can impact the change the business of the Exchange, or whether those developments can be an opportunity for us to develop new products, new services to help our clients.
What languages were used at work?
English is our working language. It is extremely useful to speak French and Portuguese. I can speak to my colleagues and clients in those languages.
It’s amazing that you speak five languages. How did you learn to speak different languages?
Portuguese is my native tongue. As schoolchildren, we choose a second and third language. During the summer, I used to enroll in summer immersion courses in London. It helped me learn the language and the culture.
Any tips on how to sustain the language skills?
First, practice whenever you can. If you have colleagues or friends from abroad, and you, you know, keep chatting with them in their own native language, I do it with my Spanish and French colleagues. I'm always pushing myself to speak and to practice those languages. The second tip is really to learn. Go to Alliance Française for French classes, or Instituto Cervantes for Spanish classes. It’s important to understand the grammar, even if you don't practice for a while, you have your basic grammar structure in your mind. That helps to quickly develop oral skills.
What is the most interesting part of your work?
Luxembourg Stock Exchange is a very diverse place. Luxembourg is a tiny country but an international financial hub in Europe. Portuguese and Spanish is useful for our interactions with Latin American countries. English and French are used by our stakeholders.
My colleagues are engineers, economists, not just lawyers. It is very interesting trying to figure out their own “languages” and different mindsets. You need to listen to them to understand why the operational and technical aspect matters at the job. The second part is the external outreach. My job involves some lobbying to the stakeholders conveying our priorities and challenges in terms of regulatory affairs.
Do you have any interesting stories that you've encountered in the multilingual legal context? The EU law, per se, is a very challenging multilingual experience and concepts, because we have all member states in the EU with different languages and different legal concepts.
An example is that in an European market and infrastructure regulation I worked on, I was trying to translate a specific concept for the clearing of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. Well, this is very technical. The idea is clearing settlement, it is challenging to find the these concepts in Portuguese language, even for a native Portuguese speaker.
Why did you choose to study law in the United States?
First, to be exposed to a new academic environment. In Europe, we are very much used to sitting in a classroom, listening to the professor, taking notes without sharing our opinions. If I want to work under a common law jurisdiction, I would need to pursue an education in the U.S. to experience a new way of living, a new continent, new people and new culture.
What are the most important takeaways from your legal education in the United States? And how does it impact your subsequent career?
American law school encourages you to form your own opinion. They provide you the tools to frame your reasoning in a very autonomous, responsible and bold way. We had to prepare in advance for the courses, read the materials, take notes, discuss with colleagues, and be ready to be called by professor to share our interpretation of the case studies.
I help me develop critical thinking skills. Research shows that education have a substantive impact on one’s career. You are more likely be able to switch jobs or get a career more to your liking. The most important impact my legal education has on me is giving me the confidence to approach unfamiliar topics. I listen to and learn from others and build my own reasoning.
What is your impression of American legal professions? And how are they different from all the lawyers you've worked with around the world?
I primarily work in capital markets. I would say that the US markets are extremely dynamic and extremely intense, because of the nature of capital markets in the financial sector. In terms of the methodologies, the seriousness, the commitment to the legal profession, I don't think it differs that much.
Are there any American TV shows or movies about lawyers that inform your impression of American legal profession?
I recently watched a documentary RBG about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
What are the important lawyering skills that enable you to do what you do well?
Critical thinking. It is not just the norms, the articles, the legal texts that matters, but the contexts the context. There is a very interesting quote by Peter Brukner: “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It means no matter how good your strategic plan is, it will fall flat unless your team shares the appropriate culture.
I would say that culture eats norms at breakfast. To understand the law, you need to understand the institutions, the society, the contexts, the community, the country, and not just read the text in the contract. You need to have a broader understanding of everything that is around a specific legal texts, legal statement or legal judgment.
If you can imagine an ideal professional life, what would that life look like?
In general I want a career where I can stay curious and ask questions. I want opportunities that enables me to experiment something outside of my comfort zone. I'm always eager to grow and evolve in my profession as a human being.
Who is your role model or inspiration in the law?
The first one is Bob Sherman, a US lawyer, mostly a friend who I met in in Lisbon when he served as the Ambassador to Portugal, nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Bob served as co-lead counsel for hundreds of victims from the Boston clergy abuse scandal, which was the subject of the movie Spotlight, the winner of Academy Awards for the Best Motion Picture of the Year in 2016. Bob is an extraordinary person.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat and lawyer. He was the hero of the Second World War. He issued passports and allowed thousands of refugees to escape from territories occupied by the Nazis. Officially he broke the law but in that situation he saved thousands of lives. He was a moral imperative, an example of humanism.
It is interesting that both of your role model in the law are also diplomats. Is there anything similarities between your work and diplomatic work?
Absolutely. We need to be diplomats at our work. In the sense that we need to build bridges with our colleagues, our supervisors. We need to be kind and gentle. Because I need to speak with so different stakeholders, including the Minister of Finance, politicians, industry associations, representatives of the European Commission and members of the European Parliament.
We have different stakeholders to whom we need to speak in a diplomatic way. We need to be polite. We need to convey our technical concerns in a way that it's understood by people who are sometimes not actually completely into the topic. So diplomacy is extremely powerful tool in our work.
Is there anything you would want to tell your younger self, when you just started your legal career?
The first thing is to ask questions. Be curious. Listen. The second advice is to negotiate. We need to negotiate to understand the position of our counterparty and try to figure out what could be a win-win situation for both. The third advice is to compromises. Sometimes you can’t all your asks. You could be in a good position by reaching the compromises and meeting some expectations of your counterpart.
