In-house: TransferWise cashes in on competitor’s legal head as mammoth US GC pay packets revealed

In-house: TransferWise cashes in on competitor’s legal head as mammoth US GC pay packets revealed

In a month of significant hires and departures, online money payment company TransferWise has snapped up rival Monzo Bank’s chief legal officer Dean Nash (pictured) as its new general counsel (GC) following the departure of Jenifer Swallow in July.

Nash, who featured in the GC Powerlist 2019, has left the company after nearly four years of rapid growth to become the UK’s most recognisable mobile-only bank. Continue reading “In-house: TransferWise cashes in on competitor’s legal head as mammoth US GC pay packets revealed”

In-house: BAE air legal head quits for aerospace rival as Lloyds’ legal ops head joins Clifford Chance

In-house: BAE air legal head quits for aerospace rival as Lloyds’ legal ops head joins Clifford Chance

BAE System’s longstanding legal chief for air, Julie Smyth, has landed the general counsel (GC) role at GKN Aerospace, while Lloyds Banking Group’s well-regarded head of legal operations is heading to Clifford Chance.

Smyth (pictured) leaves BAE’s air business, where she managed a legal team of 60, after seven years as chief counsel to head up legal, risk, compliance and governance across GKN’s global aerospace business, based in London. Smyth joined BAE in 1998 – when it was British Aerospace – with the air business accounting for about half of the defence multinational’s £18bn turnover. Continue reading “In-house: BAE air legal head quits for aerospace rival as Lloyds’ legal ops head joins Clifford Chance”

In-house: SSE launches first panel review as Balfour Beatty GC departs after just six months

In-house: SSE launches first panel review as Balfour Beatty GC departs after just six months

Big Six energy company SSE is reviewing its legal panel for the first time since setting up its debut roster in 2014, while the general counsel (GC) of construction company Balfour Beatty has left after just six months.

SSE appointed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswan, Osborne Clarke, Gillespie Macandrew, Thorntons and Kennedys to its inaugural panel five years ago, under the directorship of legal head Liz Tanner (pictured), who featured in this year’s GC Powerlist. Continue reading “In-house: SSE launches first panel review as Balfour Beatty GC departs after just six months”

In-house: Trustpilot bags former Skyscanner legal chief as Gowling scores sole Commonwealth Games mandate

In-house: Trustpilot bags former Skyscanner legal chief as Gowling scores sole Commonwealth Games mandate

Adding to recent high-profile in-house appointments, former Skyscanner legal chief Carolyn Jameson (pictured) has been appointed chief legal and policy officer at consumer review website Trustpilot, while Gowling WLG has become sole legal adviser to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

GC Powerlist-regular Jameson, who earlier in the year announced her departure from high-profile travel metasearch engine Skyscanner after six years, will oversee global legal and public affairs at Trustpilot from the UK and Denmark. Continue reading “In-house: Trustpilot bags former Skyscanner legal chief as Gowling scores sole Commonwealth Games mandate”

In-house: Skyscanner lands former Deliveroo legal chief as GC and company secretary

In-house: Skyscanner lands former Deliveroo legal chief as GC and company secretary

Recently departed Deliveroo legal chief Rob Miller has been named Skyscanner’s general counsel (GC) and company secretary following Carolyn Jameson’s departure from the high-profile travel metasearch company earlier this year.

Miller (pictured) will oversee Skyscanner’s global legal, regulatory and public affairs function, leading a team of 12 lawyers, and comes as the Scotland-based company embarks on a strategic shift. GC Powerlist-regular Jameson was at the company for six years and was involved in the company’s £1.4bn acquisition by Chinese online travel giant ctrip.com in 2016. Continue reading “In-house: Skyscanner lands former Deliveroo legal chief as GC and company secretary”

In-house: former Worldpay GC becomes FTSE 100 company’s first legal head as BlackRock’s European GC departs

In-house: former Worldpay GC becomes FTSE 100 company’s first legal head as BlackRock’s European GC departs

Adding to a recent spate of high-profile in-house moves, Ruwan de Soyza (pictured) has joined FTSE 100 company Halma as its first general counsel (GC) and company secretary, while the highly-rated Erica Handling has left funds manager BlackRock.

De Soyza announced in November he was leaving payment processing company Worldpay after nearly eight years for a FTSE 100 technology company. Continue reading “In-house: former Worldpay GC becomes FTSE 100 company’s first legal head as BlackRock’s European GC departs”

In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart

In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart

Multiple general counsel (GCs) have stepped down from their posts this week, including the legal heads of FTSE 100 mining company Rio Tinto, fintech company Transferwise and online retailer ASOS.

Rio Tinto said on Monday (1 July) Philip Richards will retire as group GC of the global mining giant at the end of December after two years in the role. He will be replaced by Barbara Levi, who is group legal head of M&A and strategic transactions at Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, from 1 January 2020. Continue reading “In-house: Rio Tinto GC to retire as Transferwise and ASOS legal heads depart”

Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY

Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY

The long-serving EMEA general counsel (GC) at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) has stepped down after 14 years to join Big Four accounting firm EY.

Sajid Hussein, a GC Powerlist regular, will join EY as a partner and GC for Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa (EMEIA) from 1 July. Continue reading “Time for a change: well-regarded BAML European legal chief departs for EY”

Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?

Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?

‘People are so scared to talk about race in the UK,’ Linklaters senior partner Charlie Jacobs says. ‘They think it’s a landmine they’re going to walk straight into, so they’d rather avoid it entirely.’

A landmine – easy to lay but hard to get rid of – which has seen Big Law for years avoid a substantive discussion around ethnic diversity. Gender is already an uncomfortable topic for the industry, yet not so uncomfortable that it has obscured increasingly intense scrutiny of the profession’s poor record promoting female partners. In contrast, ethnic diversity at the upper reaches of commercial law is rarely addressed head-on, being submerged in the wider ‘D&I’ discussion. Continue reading “Ticking boxes – Is City law going beyond the platitudes on ethnic diversity?”

In-house: Facebook appoints US State Department adviser as new GC

In-house: Facebook appoints US State Department adviser as new GC

Social media giant Facebook has recruited Jennifer Newstead (pictured), a legal adviser to the US State Department, as its new general counsel (GC) after incumbent GC Colin Stretch announced his intention to leave last July.

Newstead was appointed a legal adviser to the State Department by President Donald Trump, with her new role likely to be just as challenging as Facebook faces increasing criticism for how it handles its data across its vast social network. Continue reading “In-house: Facebook appoints US State Department adviser as new GC”