Former Siemens chief compliance officer Klaus Moosmayer is set to join Novartis later this year as chief ethics, risk, and compliance officer, the company said on Tuesday.

Moosmayer is set to replace Shannon Thyme Klinger, who was appointed group general counsel at Novartis in June. Moosmayer will report to CEO Vas Narasimhan and will be based in Novartis’ global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, when he starts at the company in December.

Novartis created the chief ethics and compliance role in 2014, and expanded it to include risk management this April. The position is also part of the pharma company’s executive committee.

Moosmayer has worked at Siemens for 18 years, starting as corporate legal counsel in 2000 and moving to his most recent role, chief compliance officer, in 2014. Prior, he practiced law in Germany.

He also serves on international business compliance and anti-corruption committees, including as chair of the Anti-Corruption Taskforce of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as vice chair of Business Compliance for the G20 presidency.

Moosmayer was not immediately available for additional comment.


Novartis has been in the media spotlight since its $1.2 million contract with Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, was revealed. The company initially denied Cohen worked on its behalf, but a Senate investigation later found emails between Cohen and former Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez about drug-pricing policy and investment opportunities.

Novartis has seen several executive changes in the past year, beginning with the surprise departure of Jimenez last September. Narasimhan, previously chief medical officer, took over as CEO in February. His replacement, John Tsai, was appointed in May. It’s also seen turnover in roles including general counsel, head of business services, and chief digital officer.

This week, Novartis also promoted former drug development comms leader Sreejit Mohan to global head of external communications.