Societe Generale (SocGen) has appointed Christopher Davies as its new general counsel for Asia Pacific after the promotion of its former legal head for the region to a new role in Paris.

Davies, who is currently head of compliance at the company, has relocated to Hong Kong from France to oversee a team of 55 legal staff.

He joined SocGen in 1997 as its head of legal and compliance for the equities business in Asia.

In his new role he will oversee all of the legal and regulatory compliance functions in Asia, and will report directly to Patrick Suet, corporate secretary and group chief compliance officer at the company.

His appointment follows the departure of former GC for Asia Mark Duncan, who has moved to Paris from Hong Kong for the role of general counsel for global banking and investor solutions.

Duncan, who has worked as general counsel for Asia for three years, joined the company in 2004 as its head of legal and compliance for SocGen Tokyo.

In his new role he will report to group general counsel G