Appointments: July 2013

DirecTV

DirecTV, one of the world’s leading providers of digital television entertainment services, recently appointed Michael Hartman, senior vice president and general counsel of DirecTV Latin America, to an additional role as corporate secretary and deputy general counsel of the company.

Hartman, who continues to oversee all legal, government relations and regulatory affairs for DirecTV’s rapidly growing Latin America business, now assumes key corporate governance responsibilities that include working closely with the company’s board to ensure compliance with relevant legislation and regulations and providing counsel on key legal responsibilities. He now reports to executive vice president and general counsel Larry Hunter but in his new capacity continues to report to Bruce Churchill, president of DirecTV Latin America.

Hartman joined DirecTV in 2004 as senior vice president and general counsel of DirecTV Latin America and was responsible for negotiating and overseeing the approvals and closings of transactions that combined DirecTV Latin America and Sky Latin America. More recently, he has guided government relations efforts to tackle significant changes to the regulatory regimes in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia, spearheaded the acquisition of wireless spectrum in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, and formed the Alliance Against Pay TV Piracy, a pan-regional body whose mission is to combat video piracy in the region.

Prior to joining DirecTV Latin America, Hartman was general counsel at StarMedia Network, an internet portal and wireless content solutions company targeting users in Latin America.

Strata-X Energy

Strata-X Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration company, has appointed Shaun Maskerine as its Canadian corporate secretary. Maskerine has more than 14 years’ experience in the administration and development of public firms, including direct involvement in numerous listings, capital raisings and transactions. He has extensive experience in corporate compliance, corporate secretarial work and listed company governance.  

Maskerine has been a director and held many senior positions in companies on both the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSXV) and the Australian Stock Exchange, and is a director and corporate secretary of other listed companies on the TSXV. 

Biozoom

Biozoom, a technology development company specializing in the commercialization of advances in mobile spectroscopy, has named Tefa Dexter as its new director of business development and sales, and corporate secretary. Dexter now has oversight of several mission-critical functions within the company, including implementing the Biozoom web portal and smartphone app, both fundamentally important to the adoption of Biozoom’s products.

Prior to accepting the role with Biozoom, Dexter specialized in developing unique web-based portals for international leaders in the action sports industry. He has more than a decade of experience in brand development, strategic sales, product management and social media-driven customer loyalty. He brings with him strong relationships in the action sports, fashion and entertainment industries. 

Prior to joining Biozoom, Dexter co-founded the Santa Barbara Group, a technology company focused on developing interactive customer acquisition, marketing and loyalty sales. There he led teams of developers in creating white-label B2B web and mobile products. He was principally responsible for developing unique web-based technology portals for the action sports industry, with key clients including Billabong, Volcom and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

From 2005 to 2008, he was vice president of brand and product management at Vintage American Clothing, an international garments distributor, responsible for managing international sales and driving the corporate growth strategy. He accelerated the firm’s international sales by acquiring leading brands and clients including Ralph Lauren, Urban Outfitters, Quicksilver and Abercrombie & Fitch. 

Lancope

Lancope, a leader in network visibility and security intelligence, has appointed Jim Ulam as general counsel and corporate secretary. Ulam has more than 22 years of legal expertise, including general counsel roles with VeriSign and SecureWorks, as well as experience working with the FBI. As Lancope continues to expand globally, Ulam’s in-depth insight will be instrumental for overseeing a rapidly increasing number of commercial agreements and overall corporate expansion.

Prior to joining Lancope, Ulam served as general counsel for electronics power protection provider Innovolt. Previously, he acted as general counsel and secretary for SecureWorks, overseeing the acquisition of the company by Dell, and also served as general counsel and secretary for the internet domain and cyber-security company VeriSign. Earlier roles include deputy general counsel for IT company Network Solutions and contract attorney for SAIC, where he was responsible for negotiating multi-million-dollar contracts with various branches of the US Department of Defense. He has also worked as a contracting officer for the FBI, and in contracts administration for technology provider Unisys.

Alcoa

The Alcoa board of directors has appointed Susan Ringler to the post of vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer. Ringler, who joined Alcoa on June 1, had been a deputy general counsel of Xylem, a global water technology company that was spun off from ITT in 2011. At Xylem she provided strategy and regulatory advice, as well as oversight and supervision of policies and programs involving compliance with US and foreign laws and regulations. She succeeds Judith Nocito, director of global compliance and assistant general counsel, who retires on August 1 after a distinguished 34-year career with Alcoa. 

In 2006 Ringler joined ITT, where she created and implemented the company’s first global anti-corruption program. Earlier in her career she served as general counsel under chairman Paul Volcker of the Independent Inquiry Committee investigating the United Nations Oil for Food Programme, a large international corruption investigation spanning six continents. She has also investigated fraud and corruption in World Bank-financed projects, and worked on developing best practices for investigations. 

As part of her work with the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative, Ringler developed and managed criminal justice reform assistance and training programs in Russia and the former Soviet republics. As an assistant US attorney in the white-collar fraud group of the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland from 1985 to 1998, she prosecuted complex federal fraud and corruption cases. Previously she was a trial attorney at Semmes Bowen & Semmes.

Sidley Austin

Sidley Austin has announced that Ron Flagg, senior counsel in its Washington, DC office, has been appointed vice president for legal affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the nation. Flagg’s appointment was recommended by the president of LSC, James Sandman, and unanimously approved by LSC’s board. 

Flagg has been at Sidley for 31 years, serving as a partner for 27, and for more than a decade has chaired the company-wide committee on pro bono and public interest law while practicing commercial and administrative litigation for regulated industries and professional firms. He has represented clients in the US Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal and District Courts, the SEC, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Surface Transportation Board.

Fay Servicing

Fay Servicing, which manages distressed and at-risk residential mortgages, has announced that Loren Morris has joined its executive team as the firm’s general counsel, chief compliance officer and executive vice president. He is responsible for leading corporate, strategic and tactical legal initiatives.

Morris brings more than 25 years of experience in financial services, mortgage banking, servicing and secondary marketing. Prior to joining Fay Servicing, he was the senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at a California-based provider of customized services and component servicing for mortgage lenders, banks and other financial institutions. He has also held senior and executive positions with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and HSBC during his career.

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank recently appointed Daniela Weber-Rey to the post of chief governance officer and deputy global head of compliance. She joins Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt from the law firm Clifford Chance, where she has been a long-standing partner with significant focus on financial institutions, corporate governance and compliance. Weber-Rey is a former member of the EU Commission’s group of corporate governance experts for the financial services area and continues to be a member of the Government Commission of the German Corporate Governance Code. 

As chief governance officer, Weber-Rey now reports to Stephan Leithner, a member of the management board and group executive committee, and has responsibility for the oversight of corporate governance globally, including acting as adviser to the management board on the governance structures and processes of the bank. In addition, as deputy global head of compliance, she reports to compliance chief Andrew Procter.

Kivalliq Energy

Kivalliq Energy, a Vancouver-based uranium exploration company, has announced the appointment of Brenda Nowak as corporate secretary. She replaces previous corporate secretary Blair Lockhart.

Nowak is now responsible for legal and regulatory compliance activities and assisting with equity financings, joint ventures and general corporate/commercial work. She has more than 16 years of work experience in the securities legal industry, including working with International Northair Mines. Prior to this she was a paralegal with DuMoulin Black and held positions with Nexus Venture Capital Lawyers and Aber Diamond.