By IRNA
London : Former British prime minister Tony Blair has joined US investment bank JP Morgan to provide “strategic advice and insight on global political issues and emerging trends,” the bank has announced.
The firm said the former premier would advise the chief executive and senior management team, “drawing on his immense international experience to provide the firm with strategic advice and insight on global political issues and emerging trends.”
The appointment, reported to exceed a salary of Dlrs 1 million a year, is his first in the private sector since resigning last June and comes after he took up the post as the Quartet’s envoy to the Middle East.
Blair has already faced criticism from British MPs for joining the lucrative international speaking circuit and reportedly receiving Dlrs 500,000 for one speech in China, while the Foreign Office funds his support staff for his Middle East role.
But according to the Financial Times, he also plans to take up “a small handful” of similar roles with other companies in different sectors. In addition, he has already made a reported multi-million pound deal with Random House publishers to sell his memoirs.
“I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of globalization. Nowadays, the intersection between politics and the economy in different parts of the world, including the emerging markets, is very strong,” he told the paper.
JP Morgan, one of Wall Street’s leading banks hit by the US sub-prime crisis, is part of JP Morgan Chase & Co, a global financial services firm with assets of Dlrs 1.5 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries.