Allen & Overy Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ian Storer is joining Swiss global financial services giant UBS. The UBS Group has four divisions comprising global wealth management, personal & corporate banking, asset management and investment banking and is undergoing an organisation-wide digital transformation programme. The legal department is headed by group general counsel Markus Diethelm. A UBS spokesperson said: 'Our Group General Counsel function is going through a significant transformation, for which technology is a key enabler. Ian has been brought in to help guide this transformation.' The programme will include a focus on using automation to provide better access to legal services and contracts across the business. Mr Storer joined Allen & Overy in October 2007 as a solutions architect. He became deputy CTO in 2012 and then CTO in 2013, responsible for defining the firm’s technology strategy and roadmaps. His UBS job starts on 7 May.

Australian mutual bank Heritage Bank has appointed Ben Wogan as permanent general counsel. Mr Wogan has been acting as Heritage Bank’s interim general counsel for the last six months. He  said that the function will play an important role as Heritage becomes a more digitally led bank. He previously held numerous private practice and in-house counsel roles in Australia and New Zealand, most recently acting as PwC’s legal director. Heritage CEO Peter Lock said: 'Mr Wogan is a highly credentialled and experienced lawyer who will be a welcome addition to the senior management team at Heritage. We’re delighted to welcome him to the general counsel role permanently and look forward to continue to benefit from his expertise and guidance.'

Biopharmaceutical company Kala Pharmaceuticals has appointed Eric Trachtenberg as general counsel and corporate secretary. The company is focused on the development and commercialisation of product candidates using its proprietary mucus-penetrating particle (MPP) technology. Mark Iwicki, chairman and chief executive officer of Kala Pharmaceuticals, said MrTrachtenberg 'has deep experience across all legal and compliance functions in the biotech industry and we look forward to his strategic leadership on our executive committee as Kala continues to evolve into a commercial organisation.' Mr Trachtenberg has been practicing law for close to 20 years, most of which has been spent in the life sciences industry. He served previously as general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary of Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. 

Trading platform APT Systems is retaining William Uchimoto as legal counsel for its Verifundr project and related ventures.  Coming from a government and self-regulatory legal background, Mr Uchimoto has advised private sector clients for more than thirty years.  His practice continues to concentrate on and around capital market transactions, financial regulation and innovation of financial products and trading systems, including cryptoassets and compliance. Glenda Dowie, CEO of APT Systems, said of the appointment: 'Bill did the seminal legal work for many securities market innovations, including pioneering “Index Participations” that transcended into Exchange Traded Funds, a $4 trillion market.  We are thrilled to be working with Bill and to benefit from the enormous experience he brings to the table.  We anticipate much dynamic input into the rolling out of our plans, operations and products in an evolving global regulatory structure.'