Paul McCrory has been appointed as the new director, legal and general counsel of British American Tobacco (BAT), following the announcement that current GC Jerome Abelman will step down from the position at the end of the year.
McCrory has been with the FTSE 100 tobacco company since 2006, where he started as group M&A counsel. Since then, he has held a number of senior legal roles, including assistant GC, group company secretary and most recently director, corporate and regulatory affairs.
Before his tenure at BAT, he spent seven years at then-Herbert Smith Freehills before leaving in 2005 to spend a year as corporate counsel at French bank Société Générale.
Jerome Abelman, who has held the position of GC for 11 years and has been with the company since 2002, is leaving his post on 31 December. McCrory will step into his new role on 1 January 2026, and will serve as director, legal and general counsel designate from 1 October this year.
In a statement, chief executive Tadeu Marroco said: ‘Jerry’s leadership has been at the forefront of BAT’s commitment to delivery with integrity. He has successfully navigated the Group through a series of strategic legal and regulatory matters across the globe while developing talented and diverse teams of legal, external affairs, and security professionals.’
He continued: ‘Paul brings close to two decades of legal and regulatory experience within BAT, and his appointment reflects the Group’s commitment to maintaining strong legal leadership aligned with our strategic priorities.’
Further changes to the management board include the appointment of current chief corporate officer Kingsley Wheaton to director, corporate and regulatory affairs, the position currently held by McCrory. He will take over this position on 1 October 2025.
The legal function at BAT has been kept busy in recent years. In March, the company’s Canadian subsidiary Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN) agreed to pay an $8bn settlement in order to resolve all tobacco-related litigation in Canada, ending numerous ongoing legal battles which had been running since the 1990s.
In 2023, the company reached a settlement with US authorities to pay more than $635m over sanctions breaches relating to a subsidiary’s tobacco sales in North Korea between 2007 and 2017.
