Yahoo has named a new general counsel, less than two weeks after the tech giant's top lawyer Ronald Bell resigned from his position.

Arthur Chong, former general counsel at US semiconductor company Broadcom, officially stepped into the role on 10 March.

In a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Yahoo revealed that Chong, who also served as an outside legal adviser to the company from October 2016 to March 2017, has been named general counsel and secretary.

Yahoo, which did not immediately reply to request for comment on Chong's appointment, announced on 1 March that Bell had stepped down. His resignation came in the wake of an independent investigation that found Yahoo's legal team failed to sufficiently investigate a massive 2014 data breach at the company.

Chong will be paid $1m (£824,000) annually, according to his offer letter, and will work in the company's San Francisco office. Following Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo's operating business, Chong will continue as top lawyer for the remaining part of the company, Altaba.

For roughly five months, from 31 October 2016 to 9 March 2017, Chong provided outside legal counsel to Yahoo and was compensated $100,000 (£82,400) per month, according to the SEC filing. While it is not disclosed whether Chong was involved in legal efforts around the two massive data breaches that have occurred at Yahoo in recent years, he began advising the company shortly after the first breach was revealed, in September 2016, and would have still been providing counsel when the second hack was announced in December 2016.

Prior to working with Yahoo, Chong served as a special adviser to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. He was also executive vice-president, general counsel and secretary at Broadcom for more than seven years. Before that, he held legal roles at insurance company Safeco Insurance and healthcare company McKesson.

Yahoo has appointed a new chief compliance officer as well, according to the company's SEC filing. DeAnn Fairfield Work, who has also served as an outside legal adviser to Yahoo, will not join the company in this role until after the closing of the transaction with Verizon. Work previously held various legal roles at Broadcom, including senior vice-president, senior deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer from December 2012 to February 2016.

Elsewhere, US broadcasting giant Viacom has named a successor for long-serving general counsel Michael Fricklas, who announced last month that he will leave the company.

Christa D'Alimonte, who is currently a deputy GC at Viacom, will step into the role of executive vice-president, general counsel and secretary on 15 April, overseeing the company's legal matters globally. She formerly worked for Shearman & Sterling in its M&A group for 17 years, and was involved in notable transactions such as Viacom's split from CBS Broadcasting in 2006.

For more, see: Viacom names Christa D'Alimonte new general counsel