By Robb M. Stewart


Royal Bank of Canada Chief Legal Officer Maria Douvas has taken an expanded role to include business strategy and oversight of key initiatives with the planned departure of Chief Administrative and Strategy Officer Christoph Knoess after four years in the post.

Douvas, legal chief since 2021, has taken the position of chief legal and administrative officer, Chief Executive David McKay said in an internal memo seen by The Wall Street Journal.

The expanded position will see her take on a role driving strategy for the bank and overseeing procurement, corporate real estate, climate and the chief data office, McKay said.

Douvas, who like Knoess is based in New York, has held progressively senior roles in Royal Bank's law arm, including executive vice president and general counsel, U.S. general counsel and global head of litigation. Before joining the bank in 2016, she was a partner at a law firm and a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

McKay said Knoess will remain at Royal Bank until the end of May to support the transition. Before joining Royal Bank and becoming chief administrative and strategy officer, he was a partner at consulting firm McKinsey and a partner at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Knoess's departure from the bank early Wednesday.


Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-20-24 1322ET