People moves: Tina Hinz is promoted to general counsel and chief compliance officer at Uniper

German energy company Uniper has promoted Tina Hinz as its new general counsel and chief compliance officer, reporting directly to CEO Michael Lewis. 

Hinz joined the company’s legal and compliance department in 2016 and has since then held a number of senior roles during this time, including SVP of corporate and commercial and SVP of corporate and financial and projects. She started her career as an associate at Linklaters Germany and left as managing associate.

Hinz succeeds Marc Merrill, who is leaving the company for new opportunities.

‘I am pleased to take on this responsibility at such a pivotal moment for Uniper. Our focus will be on shaping a future-ready legal and compliance function that actively enables Uniper’s strategy as well as the reprivatization,’ says Hinz.

Elsewhere in Germany, life sciences company Bayer has named Max Thümmel as its new group general counsel and global head of law, patents and compliance.

Thümmel will assume the role as of July 1, succeeding Thomas Laubert who left the company at the end of March.

Reporting to CFO Judith Hartmann, the new hire will lead Bayer's global legal department as well as compliance, data protection, intellectual property and insurance.

Confirming the move in a LinkedIn post, Thümmel writes: ‘I cannot wait to tackle the challenges that lie ahead together with my esteemed colleagues worldwide of our fabulous legal department and beyond.’

Prior to his promotion, Thümmel served as Bayer’s VP, head of global litigation. He originally joined the company is 2016 as senior legal counsel.

Over at NYSE-listed loanDepot, a non-bank mortgage lender, chief risk officer Joseph Grassi has been promoted to the position of chief legal and risk officer.

In his new role, Grassi will lead loanDepot’s legal strategy, corporate governance and legal affairs, as well as the company’s regulatory compliance, loan quality and enterprise risk management functions. He will report directly to loanDepot Founder and CEO Anthony Hsieh.

‘Joe has been an exceptional leader for loanDepot,’ says Hsieh. ‘His strategic mindset, industry credibility and proven leadership make him the right leader for this expanded role.’

Grassi has served as loanDepot’s chief risk officer since 2022 and brings more than 35 years of experience in consumer lending law, mortgage regulation, compliance and risk oversight.

Elsewhere, RGP, a global professional services firm, has announced the appointment of Rebecca Cottrell to the post of chief legal officer. She previously served as general counsel and corporate secretary.

‘Rebecca is a trusted leader whose strategic perspective, integrity, and partnership have made a meaningful impact across our business,’ says Roger Carlile, CEO of RGP.

As chief legal officer, Cottrell will help align governance, talent and business priorities across the company as it continues its transformation.

Staying in the US, UFP Technologies has named Ryan Stafford as general counsel succeeding Chris Litterio, who is retiring.

Stafford most recently served as EVP, chief legal officer, corporate secretary and head of M&A at Littelfuse. He joined Littelfuse in 2007 as general counsel and vice president of human resources, later advancing to SVP and chief legal and human resources. Following this he was named EVP, M&A and chief legal officer.

Before Littelfuse, Stafford held senior legal and operational roles at Tyco International, including VP and general counsel for Tyco Engineered Products & Services and VP of China Operations for the unit.

‘Ryan brings exceptional depth of experience supporting growth-oriented public companies and a proven ability to lead acquisitions. His strategic perspective, legal expertise, and track record of building high-performing teams will be invaluable as we continue to scale the business,’ says Mitch Rock, CEO of UFP Technologies.

Meanwhile, medical technology company LivaNova has appointed Anne Liddy as its chief legal officer, effective as of August 31.

She joins LivaNova from Hologic where she most recently served as general counsel. Prior to this she held various roles with its legal team with oversight spanning commercial, intellectual property, employment, compliance and litigation matters. Earlier in her career, she served as corporate counsel at Pfizer, supporting the consumer healthcare business. She began her legal career at Ropes & Gray LLP.

 ‘Her [Liddy’s] deep healthcare expertise and collaborative, strategic leadership style will be instrumental as we advance our core business and innovation agenda to deliver long-term value for patients, customers and shareholders,’ says Vladimir Makatsaria, CEO of LivaNova.

Lastly, Andrea Cesaroni has been named as the next chief risk officer at ING. He has served as the head of Integrated Risk at ING since 2022 and additionally took on the role as head of Risk ad interim since February 2026.

He takes over from former CRO Ljiljana Čortan, who has taken on a new role as head of wholesale banking.

‘Andrea knows the organization, understands the business and has extensive experience in risk management, which are essential to support our growth ambitions while staying safe and secure,’ says Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING.

Cesaroni joined ING from UniCredit, where he was head of group financial risk and later head of group risk models and credit risk governance. Before joining UniCredit he was a consultant at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen.