News Corp. Hires Former WilmerHale and Davis Polk Lawyers in Compliance Push

News Corp. has appointed five group chief compliance officers in a shake-up following the phone-hacking scandal. Recently installed group general counsel and chief compliance officer Gerson Zweifach will head the group, who previously worked at WilmerHale, Davis Polk, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Alex Newman

Legal Week

2012-10-02 12:00:00 AM

News Corp. has appointed five group chief compliance officers (GCCOs) in a shake-up of its global compliance structure, including an ex-U.S. federal prosecutor and a former lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The new compliance structure will be headed up by the recently installed group GC and chief compliance officer Gerson Zweifach, who was brought in last February to steer News Corp.'s efforts to shake up its governance following the phone-hacking scandal.

In an internal memo to staff, Zweifach confirmed the five full-time appointments, who have been brought in to ensure the business "operate[s] with the highest level of integrity," and who will strengthen the company's training programs, internal controls and auditing.

In a position that will attract much scrutiny in the U.K., Candy Lawson has joined as GCCO for Europe and Asia. Lawson, who will be based in London, joins from Morgan Stanley, where as EMEA anti-corruption counsel she designed and implemented the bank's compliance program. She was also previously a lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York.

Elsewhere, Brian Michael, formerly a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York and Los Angeles, and more recently a lawyer at U.S. law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, will now oversee compliance for the Fox Networks Group, which includes Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox Sports Media Group, Fox International Channels, FX and National Geographic Channels.

John McCoy, who will also be based in Los Angeles, will look after compliance for the worldwide operations of Twentieth Century Fox Film, Twentieth Century Fox Television and Shine Group. He joins News Corp. from the SEC, where he was the associate regional director of the enforcement division in Los Angeles. Prior to this, McCoy was a litigation partner at Los Angeles firm Bird Marella Boxer Wolpert Nessim Drooks & Lincenberg.

Meanwhile, Keith Wood will continue to serve as director of internal audit and risk for News Ltd. for News Corp.'s Australia group. New York-based news and information GCCO Lisa Fleischman will oversee compliance of Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox TV Stations Group, Dow Jones, the New York Post, HarperCollins, News America Marketing and Amplify.

Fleischman, also a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, will also serve as News Corp.'s deputy chief compliance officer.

The appointments come after News Corp. confirmed in June that it intends to divide its publishing and media/entertainment businesses into two separate companies, with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom taking the lead advisory role.