William Hague joins payroll of US bank Citigroup

William Hague, the UK’s former foreign secretary, has become the latest prominent figure to join the payroll of a big American bank in the run-up to Brexit.

Lord Hague, who quit as an MP in 2015, has joined Citigroup as an adviser, the bank said on Tuesday morning. It described his role as “providing his unique perspective to our clients”, adding: “Lord Hague’s experience on the global stage and his understanding of the forces shaping the world will be a key asset for Citi.”

The US bank, which last year hired Sir Mervyn King, former Bank of England governor, as an adviser, donated heavily to the campaign to keep Britain in the EU. Like other banks that fear they will no longer be able to access the EU’s common market from London, Citi is contemplating moving some of its 9,000 UK jobs to other EU locations.

Citi’s clients are also clamouring for advice on how to handle Brexit. Lord Hague — a veteran politician who became a cabinet minister when he was 34 — is already offering this kind of advice through the “Brexit client transition unit” at Teneo, an American advisory firm with close links to the Clintons, where he was recently hired in a part-time capacity.

Citi would not give any further detail on what Lord Hague will be doing, or how much time he will put in, beyond saying that he will have no role in the bank’s management. Advisory roles typically take a few days a month. A spokesman for Lord Hague declined to comment beyond the Citi statement.

His pay at Citi is not being disclosed. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Lord Hague, who also sits on the board of Intercontinental Exchange and chairs the advisory board for the City law firm Linklaters, said he had “no complaints” about his remuneration in the private sector.

“I also have more free time,” he added. “I will eventually write another history book. I haven’t settled down to that yet because I’ve taken on so many activities.”

The news follows Goldman Sachs’ appointment of former José Manuel Barroso, former head of the European Commission, as chairman of its international investment bank last year. Mr Barroso’s appointment attracted petitions from EU civil servants and drew sharp criticism from some politicians, including Jean Claude Juncker, the commission’s existing president. An independent EU panel later cleared Mr Barroso of breaking any ethics rules in taking the job, but questioned his judgment.

Lord Hague has already come under fire for his role at Teneo, whose clients include McDonald’s, Tesco, Coca-Cola and Nissan, the Japanese carmaker that recently agreed to stay in the UK despite Brexit. It also advised Fifa and its lawyers during last year’s corruption scandal. The group said Lord Hague had not done any work for Nissan. “William does not do what you would call public affairs or government relations advice to UK clients about UK matters,” it said.

Lord Hague has written two political biographies; he also writes a fortnightly column for the Daily Telegraph.

Although voting to stay in the EU, Lord Hague has used a fortnightly column in the Daily Telegraph to make suggestions to Theresa May, prime minister, over how to make a success of Brexit. He told the FT last week the government should issue work visas for EU citizens and back a “sensible, fair system of trade” to limit the economic damage to business.