Avon Products has appointed James Thompson as senior vice president, general counsel and chief ethics & compliance officer from 1 August. He will report directly to Avon's chief executive officer Sheri McCoy and will be based at Avon's headquarters in London. Mr Thompson previously served as the executive vice president, general counsel and company secretary to Chiquita Brands International for nine years. Prior to Chiquita, he served as the group vice president and general counsel to McLeodUSA, a publicly-traded telecommunications company and as international legal director  to Alticor, the parent company of Amway, a global direct selling company. He has also worked at Jones Day in Washington DC and Brussels. He succeeds general counsel and chief ethics & compliance officer Jeff Benjamin who will be retiring from Avon. 

Uber Technologies has promoted its general counsel Salle Yoo to the role of chief legal officer and corporate secretary. As the company faces mounting legal issues, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says Ms Yoo will work on 'critical company initiatives' such as  equal pay, diversity, and building Uber’s cultural foundation. Meanwhile, the company is looking externally for a new general counsel. 

Infosys Ltd has appointed Inderpreet Sawhney as the company’s chief compliance officer and general counsel, five months after the business parted company with former general counsel David Kennedy. Sawhney, who was general counsel at Wipro Ltd, will join Infosys next month at the rank of executive vice-president. Wipro’s chief financial officer (CFO), Jatin Dalal, will oversee the legal role until a new GC is appointed.  

Former African Development Bank general counsel Kalidou Gadio has joined law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in its Washington, DC office as a partner and co-chair of its Africa and Middle East/North Africa (MENA) practice.  The African Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries. Mr Gadio joined the bank in 1989, serving in various leadership positions until being named chief legal officer in 2008. At Manatt, he will advise companies and entrepreneurs on entering and navigating emerging markets, identifying opportunities and mitigating risks. He will also counsel foreign governments and development institutions on initiatives such as legislative reforms, financial policies and institutional strengthening.

Nina McKenna has joined Advisor Group, a network of independent financial advisory firms, as chief legal officer and general counsel. She was previously general counsel at Cetera Financial Group. Prior to that she was a broker-dealer group for ING Americas and also worked for law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.