Last month saw both Barclays and The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) put succession planning into place as global general counsel (GC) of corporate and investment banking at Barclays, Judith Shepherd, announced she would step down in the first half of 2015, while RBS’s group GC Chris Campbell was replaced as he prepares to retire.
Shepherd had risen steadily through the ranks, having joined as deputy group GC in 2006 from US firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she was a partner specialising in M&A, particularly public takeovers and cross-border securities issues.
She was then made GC for global retail and commercial banking, and most recently GC for the investment bank in 2010, with responsibility for Barclays corporate being added to her portfolio from July 2011. She is also a member of the executive and operating committees of corporate and investment banking, as well as an executive sponsor of the investment bank’s women’s initiatives network in EMEA.
In an internal statement seen by Legal Business, group GC Bob Hoyt said: ‘Judith will continue to work closely with us over the coming months as we appoint her successor and ensure a smooth transition. We are grateful for everything Judith has done for Barclays and wish her the very best for the future.’
Barclays also lost another senior in-house lawyer last month, with news that the global head of its financial crime legal team, Jonathan Peddie, had quit the bank after nine years. Peddie took responsibility of this team in May 2014 after Barclays overhauled its legal function to create a streamlined global litigation group that specialised in bribery and corruption, money laundering and international sanctions.
Meanwhile, RBS’ deputy GC John Collins has replaced Chris Campbell as group GC of the banking giant as Campbell prepares to retire later this year.
Collins, who trained at Dentons legacy firm Wilde Sapte before joining Citibank in 1995, took up the role on 1 January, though Campbell is staying on for a further three months as part of a handover process before going into retirement.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk