Practical LawConferences

Benoit Belhomme is a French national.  He studied Law in Paris and has been an “Avocat au Barreau de Paris” since 1987.

From 1986 to 1992, he worked for Clifford Chance successively in Paris and in London, where his main area of practice was Corporate as well as M&As.

In 1992, he joined the Rothmans Group, also with a focus on M&As and Commercial Law.  He was initially responsible for Africa though, as time went on and the Company’s ways of working changed, he came to be involved in counselling the business on a wide range of legal issues in all other regions as well.  These included joint ventures and acquisitions, risk management, regulatory and sponsoring (formula 1)  as well as privatisations in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Following the BAT / Rothmans merger in 1999, he became General Counsel, Africa Middle East, a region subsequently extended to cover Eastern Europe (EEMEA – 85 countries).

He held this position for 13 years before moving to his current position of General Counsel for the Western Europe Region in 2011.  He is a member of the Western Europe Board of Directors, reporting to the Regional Director.  He is also a member of the Global Legal Board under the chairmanship of BAT’s General Counsel.

The Western Europe Region comprises 44 end‑markets and the Regional General Counsel’s responsibilities cover not only the legal function but also Anti-Illicit Trade and Security.

Benoit has been living in the UK for the last 23 year.  He is married, with two children.