New Top Lawyer for Bank of England

As the credit crunch hammers the UK’s financial system, the Bank of England has named Graham Nicholson, a mergers and acquisitions partner at London’s Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, as its in-house chief legal adviser.

He is part of a team at the firm advising the bank on the nationalization of mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, and is the second Freshfields partner to serve as the bank’s top lawyer, London’s Legal Week reports.

He is scheduled to take on his new role on Jan. 1.