Accounting and consultancy giant KPMG has hired Matt Miner as general counsel of its US business, replacing Tonya Robinson who left for US investment manager Vanguard last year.

Miner joins from Walmart, where he was global chief ethics and compliance officer and special counsel. In addition to his GC duties, he will serve as KPMG’s vice chair for legal, regulatory and compliance, overseeing all related matters and maintaining the firm’s ethics and compliance programme. He will also serve on the US management committee, act as secretary for the US board of directors and head up legal and compliance for the Americas region.

KPMG provides audit, tax and advisory services to some of the world’s largest companies.

Paul Knopp, chair and CEO of KPMG, said: “Matt is a leader in his field who will help our firm deliver innovative services for businesses with integrity. Trust is at the heart of our business, and we look forward to Matt’s leadership to help guide our firm in continuing to deliver value for clients.” 

Miner spent three-and-a-half years at Walmart, having previously spent just under two years as a partner in Morgan Lewis & Bockius’s white collar litigation and government enforcement practice, which he led in Washington – his second spell with the firm.

Prior to that he was a deputy assistant attorney general in the US Department of Justice’s criminal division, following his first spell at Morgan Lewis. He also spent time as a partner at White & Case in its white collar and investigations practice group following two previous spells in public service, first as assistant US attorney in the Middle District of Alabama and then across a range of senior counsel roles in the US Senate’s judiciary committee, including as subcommittee chief counsel.

He started his career in private practice at Dechert, following a year clerking for Alabaman judge Richard Vollmer.

He fills the seat left vacant by Robinson, who announced her departure in August before taking up her new role at Vanguard in October. She spent just over seven years at KPMG, having earlier in her career served as a special assistant to then President Barack Obama on regulatory and justice policy.