Mallow named as interim general counsel, while Connolly serves as adviser during transition.
BlackRock announced that Robert Connolly, the company’s general counsel, is retiring and has appointed senior adviser Matthew
Mallow as interim general counsel while the world’s largest asset manager continues its search for a legal chief.
Dow Jones says Connolly’s retirement was revealed internally in a memo in which Larry Fink, chief executive, described the 15-year veteran of the firm as a ‘valued adviser to BlackRock, its board and our senior management team,’ who had built a global team of over 250 lawyers and compliance officers.
Connolly will serve as adviser to the firm and work with Mallow during the transition, the memo notes.
Mallow joined BlackRock 18 months ago but has worked closely with the asset manager for more than a decade, advising on its 1999 initial public offering when he was a partner with international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University School of Law.
Connolly, who joined BlackRock as general counsel in 1997, is a member of the firm’s global executive committee. Prior to this move he was managing director and general counsel with New England Funds; before that he was general counsel at Equitable Capital Management Corporation.
