People moves: Ford promotes Sarah Fortt to chief compliance officer

Ford Motor Company has promoted Sarah Fortt to the position of chief compliance officer in addition to her role as deputy general counsel and corporate secretary.

Fortt joined the company in 2025, prior to which she served as partner at firm Latham & Watkins.

In a LinkedIn post Fortt says: ‘I have long encouraged close collaborations between the corporate governance and corporate compliance functions – these two fundamental legal practices are quite literally a match made in the boardroom.

‘To my global colleagues in Ford’s corporate securities, governance and compliance teams, I’m so happy I get to work with each of you as we continue to make Ford proud!’

Over at big tech firm Meta, Curtis (CJ) Mahoney has been appointed as chief legal officer. He previously served as part of Microsoft’s executive legal team since 2021, most recently working as corporate vice president and general counsel, product, services and go-to-market legal.

Before his time at Microsoft, he was deputy US trade representative during President Trump’s first term.

‘CJ brings world-class legal expertise, passion for frontier technology, and deep insight into the global regulatory challenges facing our industry,’ said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.

Mahoney succeeds Jennifer Newstead, who will join Apple as general counsel in March.

Elsewhere, cloud-based software company ServiceNow has named Hossein Nowbar as its new president and chief legal officer. He replaces Russ Elmer, ServiceNow’s former chief legal officer, who will move into the role of special counsel.

Having previously acted as chief legal officer and corporate vice president at Microsoft, Nowbar will oversee global legal, ethics, governance, compliance, risk, ServiceNow.org, impact and sustainability, and corporate and government affairs organizations.

Last week, Huntsman Corporation announced that Amy Smedley had joined the company as EVP, general counsel and secretary. Smedley will succeed Huntsman’s current general counsel, David Stryker, who is retiring.

She joins from Savage Companies where she served as EVP and chief legal officer. Prior to this Smedley spent 16 years at Huntsman, where she ultimately served as VP and deputy general counsel. 

‘We look forward to welcoming Amy back to Huntsman. Since leaving Huntsman, Amy has served as the general counsel of Savage Companies, a privately held, multi-billion-dollar international company,’ says Peter Huntsman, president, CEO and Chairman at Huntsman.

Meanwhile, NYSE-listed Annaly Capital Management has confirmed that Anthony Green, the company’s chief legal officer, chief corporate officer and secretary, is to retire.

Green is leaving after a 16-year tenure with the company but will stay on until 31 March as a senior advisor.

‘Anthony has been a trusted advisor, strategic business partner and valued colleague,’ said David Finkelstein, CEO and co-chief investment officer at Annaly.

‘During his career at Annaly, Anthony helped steer us forward through times of transformational change as we became an internally managed public company, supported complex acquisitions and divestitures and strengthened our governance while building high-performing teams. We have relied on Anthony’s exceptional leadership, wise counsel and sound judgment over the years, and we are grateful for his lasting contributions to Annaly in multiple aspects.’

W R Berkley Corporation, a commercial insurance company, has named Stephen Kennedy as its new SVP and general counsel. He takes over for Lee Iannarone who has been promoted to executive vice president.

Kennedy joined the company as VP – senior counsel in 2020. Before his time at Berkley, he served as a senior equity partner at an international law firm, vice president – litigation & claims counsel at a leading domestic reinsurance company, and as a litigation associate at another international law firm.

‘Lee and Stephen have both been key contributors to the success of our enterprise during their tenures,’ says William Robert Berkley Jr, president and CEO at Berkley.

‘We expect that these changes in each of their responsibilities will allow us to more fully take advantage of their individual skill sets and allow them to have an even greater impact on the Company’s success going forward.’

Finally, SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has exited her role after the Senate Banking Committee did not vote to confirm her second term because of strong crypto industry opposition.

Following her departure there are no Democrat-appointed commissioners remaining, leaving only the chair Paul Atkins with commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, who are both Republican appointees.

In a statement, Atkin, Peirce and Uyeda thank Crenshaw for her service, adding: ‘We know that she will continue to have a profound and positive influence wherever her dedication leads her next, and we thank her once again for her exemplary service’.