Recent corporate secretary moves

(1) SGI, a technical computing firm, has named Jennifer Pileggi as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Pileggi will be part of the company’s executive management team.

‘Jennifer brings a great combination of legal, governance and business experience to SGI,’ says CEO Mark Barrenechea. ‘She is a great addition to our team as we continue to scale the new SGI. She has the perfect background to continue and strengthen the trust our customers and shareholders have in us.’

Prior to joining SGI, Pileggi (pictured left) was executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Con-way, a $5 billion freight transportation and logistics services company now headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As the company’s chief attorney, Pileggi oversaw the legal staff and was responsible for securities law, corporate governance, ethics and compliance matters, financial transactions and general corporate matters. She previously served as vice president and corporate counsel for Menlo Worldwide, Con-way’s $1.5 billion supply chain management business segment, a position she had held since 2003.

Pileggi started her career in 1996 as the first attorney for Menlo Worldwide’s logistics subsidiary, Menlo Logistics. An attorney with 21 years’ experience in corporate law, she started her legal career in 1990 with Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe in San Francisco, California. As a business associate, she represented investment advisers and worked on stock and limited partnership offerings.

(2) Wintrust Financial has added Lisa Reategui to its legal team. Reategui will serve as the company’s new executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.

The Lake Forest, Illinois-based financial services holding company controls nine Illinois-chartered banks with assets of more than $15 billion.

Previously, Reategui spent more than 16 years with Sidley Austin, where she ultimately became a partner and focused her practice on corporate governance and securities matters. Reategui has also served Wintrust as its outside corporate and securities counsel since 2005.

‘Reategui’s clear legal counsel and advice, as well as her strong ethical foundation and historical support of our Wintrust team, made her a clear choice to fill the newly created position of general counsel,’ says Edward Wehmer, Wintrust’s president and CEO. ‘Her extensive legal experience, coupled with an intimate knowledge of our corporate culture, governance and strategic objectives, makes her a perfect fit for our growing organization.’

(3) Gary Retelny has been named president of corporate governance and proxy voting advisory firm ISS. The move was announced recently by MSCI, the parent company of ISS. Retelny is a member of MSCI’s executive committee and is also its corporate secretary.

As president of ISS, Retelny will work closely with the ISS product development team to expand the company’s current range of governance solutions. He will continue to report to Henry Fernandez, chairman, chief executive and president of MSCI.

According to Pensions & Investments, Retelny replaced Stephen Harvey, executive director, who led ISS but did not have the title of president. However, Frederick Bogdan, MSCI general counsel, was listed as ISS president in its ADV registration filing with the SEC.

Bogdan ‘held the title but not the operating role,’ ISS senior vice president of marketing and communications Cheryl Gustitus tells Pensions & Investments. ‘Steve has been running the ISS business.’

Harvey, who had reported to Fernandez, will now report to Retelny and continue to serve in the same role as executive director.

Consumer debt buying and recovery group Encore Capital recently appointed Gregory Call, who is set to serve as the new senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of the firm.

Call has been an integral part of Encore’s legal team, and will provide important leadership, perspective and continuity as he assumes the role. ‘Greg has worked closely with the various legal and regulatory bodies that interact with our industry and has been a thought leader throughout his time at Encore,’ says Brandon Black, Encore’s chief executive. Call replaces Ronald Naves, who has decided to depart the company to pursue other professional interests.

Black highlights the important leadership Naves provided during his tenure at the company: ‘Ron provided invaluable guidance for Encore during an important period in the company’s growth, helping the company navigate important business and governance matters, a changing regulatory landscape, and rapid growth in the legal work conducted across our business.’

Call joined Encore in January 2010, and has held several leadership positions overseeing key company initiatives and business channels. Prior to joining Encore he served as vice president and general counsel of Gateway, where he established a successful track record of tackling complex legal challenges and effectively managing teams of legal professionals.

(4) Estrella Gold Corporation has selected Winnie Wong as its new chief financial officer and corporate secretary, and has established a management contract with Pacific Opportunity Capital (POC). Wong is currently the vice president of client services at POC, a firm that Estrella has retained to provide financial management and accounting services. She replaces previous corporate secretary Michelle Carreau.

Following her graduation from Queen’s University, Wong (pictured left) worked with Deloitte & Touche, where she earned her chartered accountant designation. She also acts as the chief financial officer and corporate secretary to a number of TSE and TSX Venture Exchange companies, including Rare Element Resources, Animas Resources and Avrupa Minerals.

Channel Resources has appointed Christina Yip as chief financial officer and corporate secretary. Yip replaces Cyrus Ameli, who has transitioned to the new position of senior vice president, with a focus on corporate development.

Yip brings over 20 years of experience in public company finance, regulatory compliance, and corporate administration and development with multiple publicly listed companies. She served as vice president of finance and administration for Cardiome Pharma, a TSX and NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical company, where she was a key figure in a management team that saw market capitalization grow from $30 million to $750 million between 1998 and 2006. Additionally, Yip has served as CFO of Pacgen

Biopharmaceuticals, a TSX Venture Exchange-listed company, since 2006, and has played key roles in transitioning the company through many stages of development, including its initial public offering. Prior to these appointments, Yip was involved with a management company that oversaw a portfolio of publicly listed mining and exploration firms.
 
(5) Gaming technology distributor Multimedia Games has named Jerome Smith as senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary. Smith, 59, replaces Uri Clinton, who recently announced his resignation to pursue an international business opportunity.

A veteran lawyer, Smith brings extensive gaming industry legal and regulatory compliance expertise to Multimedia Games, having recently served as general counsel at Shuffle Master, a position he held from 2001 to 2010. Smith also served as Shuffle Master’s corporate secretary from 2008 to 2010. Since September 2010 he has served as an outside consultant, providing both legal and business counsel to a variety of public and private companies.

(6) Patrick Ramsey, president and chief executive of Multimedia Games, comments: ‘Jerry brings a wide range of relevant gaming industry and corporate legal experience to our executive team as we continue to garner new market share and secure licenses in new jurisdictions for our growing range of proprietary products. Regulatory compliance is a foundation of the gaming industry and his appointment highlights our commitment to bringing a highly qualified individual to both the general counsel and chief compliance officer positions.’

(7) Patriot Coal has named Jacquelyn Jones as the company’s vice president, associate general counsel and corporate secretary. In her new position, Jones will have legal oversight of securities and corporate compliance, as well as commercial and other company transactions, and will have responsibility for corporate governance matters, working directly with the company’s board of directors. Jones will report to Joseph Bean, senior vice president of law and administration. Reporting to Jones will be Jeffrey Tucker, senior counsel, and Anne Mykins, senior paralegal.

Previously, Jones served as the company’s vice president of contract management and was responsible for managing coal supply agreements, reviewing and approving customer credit, and forecasting the firm’s coal sales.

Moreover, Jones served as vice president of tax for the company, and in 2008 she led the integration of Magnum into the Patriot organization. Before joining Patriot, she was director of tax planning and audits for Peabody Energy. Patriot Coal is a producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, with 14 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.

(8) Toronto-based Eurotin, a capital pool company, has appointed Carlos Pinglo as chief financial officer and corporate secretary.

Pinglo is an economist with over 20 years’ senior management experience working with both private and public companies in corporate finance, strategic planning, financial reporting and M&A. The majority of his career has been spent in Latin America and Canada. He previously held a number of senior finance roles, including chief financial officer at Medoro Resources, vice president of finance at Pacific Coal Resources, controller of both Silver Eagle Mines and Excellon Resources, and member of the board of directors of Mineros Nacionales.

Eurotin president and CEO Peter Miller says: ‘We are extremely pleased to have Carlos join us at this important stage of Eurotin’s development. I am confident that his background with other international mineral exploration companies, along with his proficiency in the Spanish language, will significantly assist the company in his new role as chief financial officer and corporate secretary.’

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