Nasdaq Inc. announced Thursday that its executive vice president and global chief legal and policy officer will assume the role of vice chairman Oct. 1 and its general counsel for North America has been named chief legal officer.

In his new role as vice chairman, Edward Knight will manage global government relations and continue to serve as an adviser on public policy and litigation. Knight became Nasdaq's general counsel in 2001 and previously served as general counsel to FINRA, formally Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. He has also served as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Treasury and served as a member of President Barack Obama's transition team in 2008 and 2009.

"Ed took Nasdaq's legal team from a handful of securities lawyers and built it into a global team of regulatory experts and technologists, responsible for surveilling and protecting dozens of markets, millions of investors, and billions of trades, all over the world," Adena Friedman, president and CEO of Nasdaq, said in the press release.

John Zecca will take over the role as Nasdaq's chief legal officer and manage regulatory oversight, legal counsel and compliance. Zecca joined Nasdaq in 2001. Prior to Nasdaq, he served as legal counsel to the commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has also held positions at Hogan Lovells and Kaye Scholer.

Zecca will report to Friedman in his new role.

"John is a seasoned legal and regulatory leader with outstanding judgment who has demonstrated expertise across all areas of our business," Friedman said in the press release. "His legal expertise, management strength, and business acumen will be instrumental as we continue our organizational transformation as a global technology company for the capital markets."

Both men will be based in Nasdaq's Washington, D.C., offices, a spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman said there would no additional comment beyond the press release.