Big four accountancy firm KPMG has hired Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) general counsel (GC) to be its own UK GC.

Jeremy Barton will join KPMG in December as its new UK GC.

He is currently global general counsel at BCG and sits on its executive committee.

Prior to joining BCG, Barton was an in-house lawyer at Andersen and Ernst & Young.

At Andersen he held the European and then deputy general counsel roles and oversaw the winding down of the former big five accountancy firm in the aftermath of the Enron scandal.

He then joined Ernst & Young as global general counsel before jumping to BCG in 2008.

A KPMG spokesperson said: "His extensive commercial experience, as well as his knowledge of the regulatory environment for audit firms and professional services represents a rare combination which will be extremely valuable as we pursue our strategy to be the clear choice for our clients."

At KPMG Barton will replace Vanessa Sharp who held the KPMG UK GC role from 1998 until May this year.

Sharp also oversaw KPMG's 2007 merger of its UK and European businesses.

She has been a consultant at top 50 firm Stephenson Harwood since June.

KPMG has moved into the legal sector in recent years, acquiring an alternative business structure licence in 2014.

The key players in its legal services arm are partner and head of tax litigation Amanda Brown, partner David White who leads the corporate team, partner Nick Roome who heads its northern offering and partner Punam Birly who is head of its employment and immigration group.