The SEC has named Russell McGranahan as its new general counsel to oversee the market regulator’s legal function.
McGranahan replaces Jeffrey Finnell, who has served as acting general counsel and will remain at the commission as deputy general counsel.
Prior to joining the SEC, McGranahan served as general counsel of the US General Services Administration (GSA). Before that, he was general counsel of Focus Financial Partners, a wealth management firm and spent nine years with BlackRock, serving as managing director, M&A Counsel and corporate secretary.
‘I have known Rusty [Russell] for many years and am excited to have recruited someone of his caliber and experience to my senior team. In addition to being a seasoned securities and M&A lawyer, he has served as both a public company and government agency general counsel,’ says SEC Chairman Paul Atkins.
‘I expect Rusty to deploy these skills immediately across a wide range of priorities, including our initiatives to strengthen the capital markets and deliver on a robust rulemaking agenda.’
Meanwhile, First CitizensBancShares has confirmed that Lorie Rupp intends to retire from her role as EVP and chief risk officer, following a 13-year tenure at the bank.
‘Lorie has been an outstanding leader and her strategic insight and unwavering commitment have been instrumental to our success,’ says Frank Holding, chairman and CEO of First CitizensBancShares.
Before assuming the role of chief risk officerin 2017, Rupp acted as chief accounting officer after joining the bank in 2013.
Tom Eklund, the bank’s current treasurer and 20-year company veteran, will succeed Rupp as chief risk officer in June.
‘Tom is a seasoned executive whose expertise managing capital and liquidity risk and commitment to risk governance and regulatory compliance align with our strategic priorities,’ adds Eklund.
Elsewhere, telecoms provider Frontier Communications has confirmed the exit of its chief legal and regulatory officer Mark Nielsen, following the company’s $20 bn acquisition by Verizon Communications.
Nielsen’s exit comes at the same time as the resignations of John Stratton, Nick Jeffery and Scott Beasleyand, according to an SEC filing, ‘are by virtue of the consummation of the merger and are not due to any disagreement with the company’.
All three exiting executives are set to walk away with a severance package worth $1.95 mn each.
Over in Canada, TSX-listed Stamper Oil & Gas has named Kevin Ma as chief financial officer and corporate secretary.
Ma joins Stamper from Calibre Capital, where he held senior roles advising public and private companies on capital markets strategy, corporate finance, investor relations and financial governance.
Ma succeeds Peter Nguyen who resigned as chief financial officer and corporate secretary‘to pursue other professional opportunities’.
‘Kevin’s appointment meaningfully strengthens Stamper’s financial leadership as we advance our offshore Namibia portfolio,’ says Grayson Andersen, CEO.
‘His deep capital markets expertise, investor-focused approach and experience supporting public companies through growth and market cycles will be critical as we execute our strategy, evaluate funding alternatives and position the company for long-term value creation.’
Earlier this month, Leidos promoted Henrique Canarim to the role of corporate secretary, VP and senior assistant general counsel.
According to his LinkedIn, in this new role Canarim will serve as a primary advisor to Leidos’ board of directors and executive leadership, overseeing Leidos’ corporate governance framework and legal strategy for securities and strategic transactions.
Canarim, who recently spoke to Governance Intelligence on the topic of entity management, previously served as VP and senior assistant general counsel for Leidos. Prior to this he held roles at the likes of Capital One and Morrison & Foerster.
Finally, the NatWest Group has confirmed the departure of Keiran Foadas group chief risk officer.
Foad is succeeded by Sean Pilcher as interim group chief risk officer at the UK banking group. A search for a permanent successor is underway.
Pilcher has held several senior roles across NatWest Group, including as director of risk for commercial banking and – most recently – as chief operating officer for the group risk function.