Two of the UK's top tech general counsel have been named as the chairman and deputy chairman of the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) competition panel.

Tim Cowen, BT Global services general counsel, has been appointed as chair of the panel at the employer's body and Microsoft director of legal and corporate affairs Chris Parker has been appointed deputy chair.

Cowen replaces former chairman and head of legal at engineering company GKN, Rufus Ogilvie Smals, who has left the panel to head up the competition committee at the business advisory arm of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The CBI is a not-for-profit lobbying group that promotes the interest of 200,000 members, including a large proportion of the FTSE 100.

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