Avon Products has appointed former Novartis legal chief Jeff Benjamin as its new general counsel, following the July departure of former GC Kim Rucker to Kraft Foods North America.

Benjamin, who retired from Novartis at the end of 2011, held various roles during his time at the Swiss pharma giant, including serving as chief ethics and compliance officer and chair of the ethics and compliance committee from 1997 until his retirement.

In 1996 he took the role of general counsel of Ciba-Geigy Corporation and played a key role in the merger which created Novartis – the tie-up of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, which at the time was the largest corporate merger in history.

Avon, which has annual revenues of over $11bn (£6.8bn), is one of the largest beauty companies in the world. Benjamin took up his new role at the company this week and will report to CEO Sheri McCoy.

McCoy commented: "Creating a productive work environment that continues to enhance our compliance culture is a priority. Jeff's proven commitment to business ethics and law compliance and his credibility within and outside the legal profession will be a tremendous asset for Avon."

Benjamin's forty-year career has seen him handle a wide range of legal issues covering litigation, corporate transactions, antitrust, environmental regulation, equal employment opportunity, product liability and ethics and compliance. He began his legal career as a litigation associate at New York's Kronish Lieb Shainswit Weiner & Hellman.

Former Avon GC Rucker is now executive vice president of corporate and legal affairs at Kraft Foods' grocery subsidiary, and she will also become GC for the newly spun-off grocery unit Kraft Foods Group later this year.