Around the house

International healthcare group Bupa has promoted its global director of legal and corporate affairs Penny Dudley to the role of chief legal officer following the retirement of incumbent CLO Paul Newton. Mr Newton has been with Bupa for 29 years, and was appointed CLO in 2005. He will temporarily re-assume the role of Bupa's general counsel, advising the board of directors, before finally exiting the company at the end of this year. Ms Dudley will take up the CLO post from 1 April.

Simmons & Simmons UK and international head of employment, pensions and incentives Sam Watson will step into the newly created role of general counsel from 1 May. The City law firm has created the new position to help manage its regulatory obligations and to guard against any 'unpleasant surprises' through proactive risk management. It is also understood that Mr Watson will review the firm's current business structure following office closures in Abu Dhabi and Rome. The overhaul of governance at Simmons & Simmons follows the resignation of former director of risk management Chris Andrews.

High Speed Two (HS2) is bringing in former Tube Lines general counsel Nicole Geoghegan as its new GC almost a year after former GC Betty Morgan retired from the role. Ms Geohegan joins the high-speed rail development project from industrial services company Contract Resources, where she has served as GC since 2014. Stephenson Harwood partner Suzanne Tarplee has been fulfilling the GC role on an interim basis since Ms Morgan's retirement.

Swiss bank BSI has hired former Swiss prosecutor Emanuele Stauffer as its new general counsel. BSI deputy chief executive Rajiv Pradhan has been holding the GC role on an interim basis following the departure of former legal counsel Beat Ammann. The lender is privately owned by embattled Brazilian firm BTG Pactual, which has put BSI up for sale in order to bolster cash assets and restore investor confidence. Mr Stauffer will take up the new role in March.

Finally, Canadian casino games developer DEQ Systems has named Charles Meredith as its new chief legal officer and company secretary. Mr Meredith will join DEQ after serving for 11 years as assistant general counsel for Sands China, a subsidiary of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He will be based in Las Vegas, and the appointment remains subject to regulatory approval.