The trend of companies increasingly enhancing their teams to include sophisticated and growing in-house legal departments shows little sign of abating as independent brokerage and financial software group AKJ becomes the latest to boost its legal capabilities, hiring its first general counsel and in-house lawyer, the former legal chief for the London Stock Exchange Tom Mackay.
Announced yesterday (19 Sept), Mackay has acted as an external legal consultant for AKJ for over 12 years however, with the establishment and growth of fund AKJ Accelerator last year, the group has created a senior position for the veteran.
Mackay, who currently heads virtual law firm Mackay Carter Shaw, which focuses on entrepreneurs and investors, will be responsible for the group’s global regulatory framework within AKJ Accelerator, and will take charge of ‘analysing problems and developing options and implementing solutions for AKJʼs fund management clients,’ a group statement said.
Mackay’s experience will be an undoubted asset: he was previously head of legal at the London Stock Exchange during the 1990s, a time when it performed many of the regulatory functions subsequently carried out by the Financial Services Authority, and was also partner for more than nine years at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.
AKJʼs founder and CEO Anders Kvamme Jensen said: ‘You need a good lawyer to set up a solid hedge fund, particularly in an industry where around 50% of fund failures are due to operational and legal issues and I am confident that Tom brings the expertise we need to provide an excellent service to our clients.’
The group was founded in 1995 by Anders Kvamme Jensen and serves institutional and hedge fund clients in over 37 countries.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
