BlackRock has changed the way its iShares business is structured, tapping Mike Latham, most recently head of iShares North America, to the newly created role of global head, BlackRock spokesperson Bobbie Collins confirmed to The MFWire.

BlackRock, which purchased iShares and the rest of Barclays Global Investors last year, has yet to name the new North American chief.

Meanwhile, Rory Tobin left his post as head of iShares International and business development for Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). BlackRock tapped Joe Linhares, who most recently ran U.S. sales for iShares, as the new head for the EMEA region. BlackRock has not yet named Linhares' successor as sales chief in the U.S.

Under the new structure, four people will be reporting to Latham: Linhares; Nick Good, head of iShares Asia Pacific; Daniel Gamba, head of iShares Latin America and Iberia, and the yet-to-be-named North American chief.

Previously, Good and Gamba reported to Tobin.

"We wanted to optimize our ETF opportunities worldwide," Collins told The MFWire. "We reorganized the iShares business to manage it on a unified, global basis."

BlackRock announced the changes internally today.

The reorg comes seven months after BlackRock completed its purchase of BGI. It also comes nearly three months after Lee Kranefuss, who built the iShares business into an ETF juggernaut, moved on from his roles as chairman of the board of trustees of iShares Trust and the board of directors of iShares Inc.  

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