We’re thrilled to feature Sinead Murphy in our Women in Law series. Sinead is the Global General Counsel in Investment Banking at HSBC. Over her 13 years at HSBC, she has built an extraordinary career by embracing challenges outside her comfort zone and thinking unconventionally. Her journey challenges the perception that progression within large banking organisations is limited and it serves as an inspiring example for others looking to carve their own distinctive path to success. From developing and managing legal functions across the UK to leading teams internationally, Sinead has consistently shown that ambitious lawyers can thrive by thinking creatively and embracing new opportunities.

Her career is a testament to the power of curiosity, adaptability, and strategic thinking within a complex organisation. We chose to interview her not only because of her impressive professional achievements, but also because her story encourages others to explore new areas, take calculated risks, and reimagine what career progression can look like.

HSBC Career Journey to Date

• Global General Counsel, Investment Banking
• Global General Counsel, Commercial Banking
• Deputy General Counsel, CMB UK, HSBC UK Bank plc
• Director & Head of Transaction Management, Leveraged and Acquisition Finance
• Director, Transaction Management, Leveraged and Acquisition Finance
• Vice President, Transaction Management, Leveraged and Acquisition Finance

Can you share a bit about why you decided to go into law and what led you to move in-house rather than stay in private practice?

As a teenager I was very interested in politics and human rights. That crystallised into an interest in the law after a lot of reading about a then-famous UK libel trial. I went to university full of intentions to become a human rights barrister and discovered along the way that public law was not for me. After summer vacation schemes in London and New York, I joined Allen & Overy as a trainee, where I then stayed for a further seven years as a lending lawyer. I loved my time in private practice, but I did not want to become a partner. I enjoyed the deals and the intellectual challenge rather than the entrepreneurial side of building my own business. Just as I was putting together my partnership papers as the next logical step, an opportunity arose at HSBC, where I had previously been on secondment. I joined Leveraged and Acquisition Finance in 2012 to do transaction execution in a business rather than legal role. I spent six years in business and legal transactional roles within HSBC’s global bank and then moved into General Counsel roles. I have always enjoyed the breadth and challenge of being in-house, and a General Counsel role brings the opportunity to deal with issues across transactions, clients, financial crime, litigation, digital, tech, and regulatory matters. It also enables you to be part of the leadership of running a business and part of the decision-making as well as being a trusted adviser.

What has been one of the most memorable moments of your legal career so far and why?

In 13 years at HSBC, I have enjoyed a steep career trajectory and have now done six different roles which have provided me with an array of opportunities. Some of my proudest moments have come from investing in and developing team members and seeing them go on to achieve great success. There have been many crises where I have enjoyed being in the trenches with colleagues and really had to solve significant problems. Probably the most memorable time was during the COVID pandemic when I was the head of Legal for HSBC’s Commercial Bank in the UK ring-fenced bank and we provided multiple government lending schemes, culminating in the Bounce Back Loan Scheme which was a huge lending proposition delivered in a week. During that period, we also enabled the entire UK business to adapt all its processes to operate on a fully remote basis, dealt with multiple managerial challenges and had my own personal challenges as I had a two-year-old and four-year-old at home.

What one factor has helped you the most throughout your career?

Really understanding the business, I am advising and being able to bring a real business lens to legal issues. Having worked in the business, I am always thinking about the client and their needs and bringing things back to client experience. That is an important counterbalance to the risk lens which we need to bring when managing legal issues and guiding our stakeholders through what is today a very complex environment. In terms of career progression, I think focusing on high performance remains the most critical factor. There is a lot of focus today on network and profile and while industry and external views are important, the most crucial point is being excellent at your role. That requires technical ability, but also hard work, real engagement and accountability. It means running at problems and really owning and solving them. That kind of performance and leadership is recognised and appreciated and creates natural career opportunity.

With the world of financial services always changing, what emerging trends or challenges do you foresee shaping legal functions in the banking space in the future?

The obvious answer is AI, in terms of bringing the most change to the shape of legal functions generally and in the banking space. While there are clear shifts in our approach to commoditised work such as contractual construction, review and negotiation, research tasks and so on, there are interesting questions around the role and skills of our lawyers. Everyone needs prompt engineering skills but focus on data strategy and data science will be key to enabling the best results from our AI tools. The role of an in-house lawyer should become much more focused on judgement-based work which I believe will continue to make these roles exciting and broad. The increasing importance of digital assets and their role across markets, payments, tokenised bonds and loans will continue to create a need for building skills in these areas. Finally, increasing complexity in geopolitics and the resulting impacts on trade, capital markets, sanctions and regulatory change will continue to drive the need for in-house counsel to really lean in and partner with business leadership to navigate those challenges more broadly.

What advice would you give to women in the legal space aiming for leadership roles, particularly working mums?

I think it is important to vocalise your ambitions. Talk about where you want your career to go and ensure you are in people’s minds when roles come up or when they are thinking about organisational design. Mentors are great, but sponsors are even better. You need people who will talk about you to others, advocate for you and support you as a great performer. Do not worry about taking parental leave, time off or a career break if that is what you would like to do. Once you are out of the office for more than a few weeks, no one really remembers how long you were out, so make sure you take the opportunities that matter to you. I took the maximum amount of parental leave when I had my two children, 14 months with each, because I really wanted that time with them. I was also promoted both times while I was on maternity leave. I like to share this story as much as possible because it shows that time off is no barrier to career progression. I also believe it is important to show that having more to juggle at home does not mean you cannot keep moving forward in your career. I remember my mother being shocked that after having my second baby, I was yet again taking on a bigger role with more responsibility, more to do and some travel, when she had expected I would be looking to scale back. My view was that balancing a job and a family always needs work, so I thought I may as well face that while in an exciting and challenging role.

What is your advice to leaders who want to create a more inclusive culture?

This is an area where in addition to having the best intentions, we also must be purposeful and structural to create change. Creating an inclusive culture requires focus on several key areas. First, leadership: modelling inclusive behaviours, prioritising inclusion within strategy and having a senior leader with accountability. Second, careers and people: updating hiring processes and sharing stories of progression. Third, communications and education: celebrating different cultures and milestones, recognising and rewarding inclusive behaviours, providing inclusion training and building empathy. Fourth, culture: fostering a speak-up environment. Finally, partnerships: collaborating with clients and law firms and engaging with the wider community through pro bono activities.

Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts or other resources that may help or inspire others?

For my day-to-day, I use subscriptions to the Financial Times and The Economist to get a good global perspective. For business, tech and increasingly geopolitics, I listen to the All-In podcast. There is a lot in there that I do not agree with, but the outlook is interesting. On leadership, I like anything by Simon Sinek and, although somewhat outdated now, I found Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg insightful. It includes that great quote: Question, “What can men do to help women advance their careers?” Answer, “Laundry.” I have participated in some leadership training with Elsbeth Johnson which I really enjoyed. She has a great book called Step Up, Step Back which is about leadership and delivering strategic change in an organisation, which is critical. Something like Bossy pants by Tina Fey provides some light relief, but there is good content in there on leadership, self-confidence and taking risks in your career. And finally, if you just want a fantastic read, I recommend Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo