Deutsche Bank and HSBC's in-house legal teams are being refreshed, as Deutsche Bank appoints a new general counsel while HSBC seeks a permanent replacement for departing chief legal officer Stuart Levey.

Deutsche Bank has appointed from within its own ranks its new GC, after former GC Florian Drinhausen stepped down in April.

Karen Kuder, who has been at the bank for 20 years and has held a variety of positions, has been appointed the new GC and global head of the bank's legal department, the bank said in a press release. She originally joined Deutsche Bank in 1992 as a bank clerk and returned to the bank in 2000 with a law degree. She is its first female GC.

Kuder was previously a senior adviser to the bank's German corporate client business and was responsible for the bank's banking regulatory law worldwide from 2016. In 2018, she became chief governance officer with global responsibility for the bank's governance framework.

Kuder's appointment comes at a time when scandal-plagued Deutsche Bank is in the midst of a restructuring effort as it seeks to restore its reputation. The bank has had three general counsel since 2015, with Drinhausen taking over in early 2018.

Kuder will report to Stefan Simon, the bank's chief administrative officer, who joined the bank last year as part of the bank's restructuring.

"Karen Kuder knows the bank very well from many years of experience. She has proven herself in the past years in various challenges and therefore brings the full range of expertise necessary for managing the legal department of a global bank. I look forward to our cooperation," Simon said in the statement.

Meanwhile, HSBC CLO Levey has left the bank to join Facebook-founded global digital currency initiative Libra Association as its first CEO, the Geneva-based company announced in a statement. Levey will be based in Washington, D.C., according to Libra.

Levey had held the position at HSBC for just over eight years.

HSBC former global general counsel Richard Gray has been named as the bank's interim CLO and will take up the position from July 1. 

In the statement, Levey added: "I am honored to join the Libra Association as it charts a bold path forward to harness the power of technology to transform the global payments landscape."

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