Catherine Johnson has clung on to her position as general counsel of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) following the merger between the UK exchange and continental counterpart Borsa Italiana.

Johnson will to retain her position at the helm of the LSE's legal team, which numbers around 10 lawyers and is set to combine with Borsa's in-house function in the new year.

Borsa legal chief Michele Monti has been named as the merged company's head of legal affairs and will report to Johnson, as will director of regulation, operation and strategy Adam Kinsley and the group's new head of competition, who is yet to be named.

Johnson will now in turn report to Borsa chief executive and newly-appointed LSE deputy chief executive Massimo Capuano, having previously been accountable to finance director Jonathan Howell.

The LSE bought Milan-based Borsa in October in a deal worth €1.5bn (£1.1bn). Longstanding adviser Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for LSE on both UK and Italian-law aspects of the deal, while Borsa turned to local independent Chiomenti, its historical adviser.

LSE Group, the holding company that owns the City exchange, is set to take the task of integrating the two exchanges.

A spokesperson for the LSE said: "The holding company is being beefed up and we will become an integrated group based in London serving the company's six main business lines: information services; equity markets; derivatives; fixed income; custody and settlement; and clearing."

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