Mastercard has hired Rob Beard as chief legal officer, general counsel and head of global policy.
In his new role he oversees the company’s legal, public policy, regulatory affairs and litigation teams globally. He reports to Tim Murphy, chief administrative officer.
Beard previously worked at Micron Technology as general counsel and corporate secretary, heading up the semiconductor company’s global legal, intellectual property and ethics and compliance functions. He joined Micron in 2014 as the company’s primary M&A lawyer and for several years worked closely with the firm’s corporate development team on strategic opportunities including transactions in Japan, Taiwan, Europe, China and Singapore.
Among other things, he helped promote the US CHIPS & Science Act, which is aimed at boosting semiconductor research, development and production in the country, and in negotiating an incentive package from New York State for Micron’s announced $100 bn semiconductor manufacturing facility to be built in the Syracuse, New York area.
Before his tenure at Micron, Beard was an associate at law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges in London, New York and Silicon Valley, with a practice focused on M&A and capital markets transactions. He also worked at Shearman & Sterling in London, where he focused on debt capital markets transactions.
Murphy says in a statement: ‘Rob will play a key role as we continue to deliver on our strategy. His broad international and policy experience, combined with his expertise in business and law, make him an excellent partner and counselor in driving meaningful transformation. We are delighted to welcome him to Mastercard.’
Mastercard earlier this year promoted Karen Griffin to the newly created position of chief risk officer. Griffin was previously chief compliance officer. ‘The ability to manage an organization’s risk appetite in order to maximize growth opportunities has become increasingly important in recent years,’ the company stated at the time, in reference to the move. ‘In this new role, Karen will strengthen the company’s risk-management strategy and activities, building on the robust processes and procedures currently in place.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
