Ex-Foreign Secretary Lord Hague joins Citi bank as Brexit looms

Lord Hague, the former Foreign Secretary, is joining the Wall Street giant Citi as the investment banking sector navigates the implications of Theresa May's Brexit strategy.

Sky News has learnt that Lord Hague, who quit frontline politics at the 2015 General Election, has signed a contract to become a senior adviser to Citi, which employs thousands of people in its UK operations.

His role will not focus specifically on Brexit, although insiders said that would inevitably feature significantly in the work he undertakes with the US bank and its clients.

It will be the latest in a string of private sector posts that Lord Hague, who also led the Conservative Party for four years, has taken since stepping down as an MP.

He is a senior adviser to Teneo, a public relations and lobbying firm, and the chairman of ICE Futures Europe, the markets infrastructure operator.

Campaigners have argued that the Teneo role demonstrates the weakness of rules overseeing the posts that former ministers and public servants can subsequently take in the private sector.

The register of Peers' interests shows that Lord Hague has already undertaken at least nine speaking engagements for Citi over the past year.

Responding to an enquiry from Sky News, a Citi spokeswoman said: "We're delighted Lord Hague will be working with Citi as an advisor, providing his unique perspective to our clients.

"Lord Hague's experience on the global stage and his profound understanding of the forces shaping the world will be a key asset for Citi."

Like other multinational financial services groups, Citi has hired a number of senior political and industry figures to help it forge relations with policy-makers and regulators.

Lord King, the former Governor of the Bank of England, also joined Citi as a senior adviser last year.

The Wall Street bank employs 9,000 people in the UK, and was a substantial donor to the campaign to stay in the EU.

In a memo to staff circulated just before the referendum, James Bardrick, who runs Citi in the UK, wrote: "To continue to serve our clients and maintain efficient access to those markets currently enabled through the EU passporting regime, we would likely need to rebalance our operations across the EU."

Reports have speculated that Citi has drawn up plans to move 900 people from London to Dublin, but this has been dismissed by the bank as speculative.

The Prime Minister's expected plan - to be announced later on Tuesday - to withdraw Britain from the EU single market and customs union is likely to have an important bearing on international banks' planning for the future of their UK operations.