First up, Citadel Securities has hired former Securities and Exchange Commission official Stephen Luparello as its new general counsel. Mr Luparello departed the SEC in January after almost three years serving as a director of the commission’s Division of Markets and Trading. Among Mr Luparello’s previous appointments are a stint as an executive at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and time in the partnership at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr. He will join Citadel Securities, the market-making arm of billionaire Ken Griffin’s global investment firm Citadel, in May.

Meanwhile, UK broadcaster Channel 4 has announced that general counsel Prash Naik will be stepping down in August after just three years in the role. Mr Naik has been with Channel 4 since 1994, holding a variety of in-house positions – including senior lawyer and head of legal and compliance – before being named as the broadcaster’s first ever general counsel in 2014. It is understood that Mr Naik has decided to exit his role at Channel 4 in order to relocate to Australia.

Over in Washington DC, US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to appoint Carlos Muñiz as the new general counsel for the Department of Education. Mr Muñiz most recently served as a senior vice president at consulting firm McGuire Woods, but has previously held a variety of positions in Republican politics. He served as deputy attorney general and chief of staff to Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, and previously worked as deputy general counsel under former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Mr Muñiz’s appointment must first be confirmed that the US Senate before he is able to assume his new position.

Healthcare technologist Tempus has hired Erik Phelps as its new executive vice president and general counsel. Tempus is a technology firm that helps physicians deliver personalised cancer treatment to patients. Mr Phelps joins Tempus from his most recent role at Epic, another tech company in the healthcare space that specialises in the provision of electronic healthcare records. Prior to moving in-house, Mr Phelps advised clients on software licensing and other technology matters as a partner at law firm Michael Best & Friedrich.

Finally, Mastercard announced last week that Erika Brown Lee will be joining the company as senior vice president and assistant general counsel for privacy and data protection. Ms Brown Lee will lead the Mastercard team responsible for ensuring the company’s compliance with privacy and data protection laws across all its products and services, and will report directly to chief information governance and privacy officer JoAnn Stonier. Most recently, Ms Brown Lee spent more than three years in the US Department of Justice, serving the department’s chief privacy and civil liberties officer and as a principal advisor to the Attorney General. Previously, she worked in private practice at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.