Multinational conglomerate SoftBank Group continues to shake its executive ranks up, announcing the appointment of Tim Mackey to the role of chief legal officer on Monday.

Mackey, who is based in Tokyo, had just been appointed group compliance officer of SoftBank in September. He joined the company as deputy general counsel in November 2018 and is now succeeding Robert Townsend in the top legal role.

Townsend will transition to the role of senior advisor to SoftBank, effective by the end of this month.

“Rob has been a trusted advisor to me and to SoftBank for many years and his contributions have been immeasurable,” Representative Director Masayoshi Son said in a press release. “… He also played a critical role in strengthening our governance standards and practices. I am grateful for everything he has done for us and look forward to continuing to work with him.”

SoftBank also announced changes to its board of directors, part of a corporate governance push “aimed at increasing the proportion of External Board Directors on the Board, and separating the management decision-making function from the business execution function to clarify the persons responsible for business execution.” EVP and Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer Katsunori Sago, EVP Rajeev Misra, and Governor and Board Member of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan each resigned from the board to reduce the number of members to nine.