The Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP (the “Centre”) announces Markus B. Heyder, International Consumer Protection Counsel at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, will be joining as Vice President and Senior Policy Counselor, effective March 17, 2014. In this role, Heyder will work on policy development, research and publishing activities at the Centre, and will develop and maintain relationships with policy and regulatory authorities in North America, Asia and Latin America, among other tasks. He will be resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

“Markus has a distinguished reputation as a privacy lawyer and brings an impressive background in global data privacy, information security and consumer protection law and policy, including with the FTC, the primary U.S. privacy authority. His 20 years of experience will be an asset to Centre member companies as we work together with regulators to explore more effective solutions to the privacy challenges we face in the information age,” said Bojana Bellamy, president of the Centre. “We are privileged to have Markus on board. His leadership will enhance the effectiveness and visibility of the Centre in the United States, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.”

“I am excited about both the challenges and opportunities this role brings and look forward to working with Centre members on our common mission,” said Heyder, who served in the FTC’s Office of International Affairs in Washington, D.C. for over 10 years. At the FTC, he specialized in the areas of privacy, information security, consumer protection, international policy development, cross-border enforcement, and cooperation and information sharing. Immediately prior to his government work, Heyder was associated with Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) in Chicago, where he focused on privacy law, consumer financial services law, financial privacy law and e-commerce.