As the financial services industry gets to grip with post-crisis reform, one role – the general counsel – has taken on renewed prominence, advising the board through the twists and turns of the dramatic structural shifts under way.

For organisations involved in trading and technology, the twin challenges of assimilating new regulations and the constantly evolving competitive landscape - including targeted mergers and acquisitions and the arrival of new competition - have been a consistent theme. John Halvey, general counsel of the New York Stock Exchange Euronext, said: "Over the past five years, as globalisation has taken hold, as the post-crisis order has sharpened, and as the regulatory interface has become more prominent in financial services, the role of the general counsel has been brought into clearer focus."