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Plus Freddie Mac, TD Bank and Power Solutions International expand their governance teams Paramount Skydance, the newly merged media company comprised of Paramount Globaland Skydance, is reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ with Makan Delrahim to join the company as its new general counsel. As reported by The New York Post, Delrahim, the former assistant attorney general for the antitrust division at the Department of Justice (DOJ), has become one of CEO David Ellison’s key advisors over the last few years. Since leaving the DOJ, Delrahim has been a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he leads the firm’s global antitrust and…

Plus British American Tobacco, Comerica and Compass expand their teams Microsoft’s general counsel Jonathan Palmer has been promoted to the role of corporate vice president and chief legal officer, succeeding Hossein Nowbar. Nowbar confirmed that he had left the technology giant this month in an email sent earlier this week. Palmer joined Microsoft in 2010 as a senior attorney and has since held such roles as assistant general counsel and vice president and deputy general counsel – head of litigation. Prior to joining the software maker, Palmer was managing partner for the Asian offices of Heller Ehrman, a now-defunct law…

Plus Huntsman, Vor Bio and Kymera Therapeutics bolster legal teams NYSE-listed social media company Snap has announced the upcoming departure of its general counsel Michael O’Sullivan, a role he has held since July 2017. In an 8-K SEC filing, the company confirms that O’Sullivan will leave Snap on December 31, his replacement has not been appointed. O’Sullivan emphasizes that ‘his decision is not related to any disagreement with us on any matter relating to our accounting, strategy, management, operations, policies, or practices (financial or otherwise)’. Before joining Snap, O’Sullivan was a lawyer at the law firm of Munger, Tolles &…

Plus, GE Vernova, Zentalis and Corteva welcome new legal chiefs Environmental technology provider Atlantic Power & Infrastructure (AP&I) has appointed Stephanie Williams to the role of secretary of the board, officer of government affairs, officer of environmental affairs and officer of corporate governance. As secretary of the board, Williams will oversee board documentation, shareholder records and governance deliverables, while her new role as officer of government affairs will see her engagement with regulatory bodies, manage compliance pathways, support industrial bond initiatives and guide AP&I’s policy positioning. Asofficer of environmental affairs,she will lead sustainability integration, including wildfire remediation and green technology…

Plus new legal chiefs at White Cap, Shentel and Qualitas Toronto-listed financial services company Manulife has brought in Mike Coyne as its new general counsel, effective from September 1, to replace the retiring Jim Gallagher. Coyne most recently served as senior fellow and litigation strategy advisor at the Bank Policy Institute, an advocacy and policy think tank for the world’s largest banking organizations. Prior to that, he worked as general counsel and senior legal officer for the Americas at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and spent more than 20 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co, rising to the position of senior…

Experts say that companies must build a culture where GRC is ‘understood, valued and actively developed’ to combat a skills crisis In boardrooms across industries, from financial services to technology to healthcare, a growing concern is beginning to surface, one that is less headline-grabbing than market volatility or geopolitical risk, but just as structurally threatening: the escalating global shortage of professionals in governance, risk and compliance (GRC). Companies need a steady stream of skilled GRC professionals to keep their operations not just compliant, but also ready for emerging threats. The talent pipeline is lagging behind, however, with the consequences becoming…

The Andersons and WesBanco also grow their legal teams Founded to address the frustrations of executive teams, corporate directors and independent board members over ineffective board meetings, Board Intelligence (BI) was established with a clear mission: to understand what was driving frustration in boardrooms, identify what was going wrong and determine what needed to change to foster more meaningful, value-driven conversations. BI’s latest survey, the Board Value Index, highlights the key challenges boardrooms face today. According to its findings, 46 percent of directors in both the US and UK believe their boards do not add enough value to the organization.…

PNC, PPG and Cognizant also bolster their senior governance teams Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based banking company PNC Financial Services Group has made two appointments to its legal and risk teams. As of September 8, Amy Wierenga will serve as chief risk officer and will join PNC’s executive committee. Wierenga currently serves as head of financial and model risk for IRM, before which she worked for BlueMountain Capital Management as partner, chief risk officer and head of risk and portfolio construction. Reporting to directly to chairman and CEO William Demchak in her new role, Wierenga succeeds Kieran Fallon, who is moving into a…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web —Earlier this week, Tesla issued 96 million new shares to CEO Elon Musk, valued at around $29 bn. The issuance comes as the company tries to keep the entrepreneur happy and focused on the business, amid his recent political activities. ‘While we recognize Elon’s business ventures, interests and other potential demands on his time and attention are extensive and wide-ranging … we are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla,’ the special committee wrote in an SEC filing. As reported by Reuters (paywall), in 2024…

Lennar, Republic Bank and Danahe also welcome new legal chiefs GoPro, the American technology company, has promoted Jason Stephen to the role of vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, replacing Eve Saltman. The news comes following a Form 8-K securitiesfiling confirming that Saltman was stepping down from her role to pursue other opportunities. Before the promotion, Stephen acted as deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary for the company. Meanwhile, sporting goods retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors has selected Brandy Treadwayas its new EVP, chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Treadway joins from RumbleOn, where she served as SVP,…