Norton Rose Fulbright antitrust and competition partner Michael Grenfell is leaving the firm to become senior director of sectoral regulation at the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA is a new organisation which, from April 2014, will take over many of the regulatory functions and responsibilities of the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading.

Grenfell is one of five new appointments made in the markets & mergers directorate, as the CMA announces its second wave of director level appointments. Grenfell will report to the executive director Andrea Coscelli.

Grenfell has been a partner at legacy firm Norton Rose since 1998 and is one of the City's leading competition experts. He has experience in merger control for public takeovers, private acquisition and joint ventures, investigations into alleged anti-competitive agreements, cartels, competition litigation and disputes in the courts.

He spent 18 months on secondment in the competition policy division of the UK's Department of Trade and Industry and currently chairs the Working Group on UK competition law reforms of the City of London Law Society.

Martin Coleman, Global Practice Leader of Antitrust & Competition at Norton Rose Fulbright said: "This is a great move for Michael. The transition of private practice lawyers into government and regulatory roles (and vice versa) is a good thing for both regulators and the business community and in this case Michael will bring over 20 years of excellent experience at Norton Rose Fulbright to his new role. We wish him all the best in his new job."

CMA Chief Executive Alex Chisholm said: "With today's appointments we build further vital blocks across the leadership structure of the CMA and I am delighted with the quality of the candidates we have chosen. These roles will all play a leading part in setting the direction of the organisation and enforcing its priorities when we open for business next April."
The final director level appointments will be made in the coming weeks.