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UBS snares ex trade chief
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October 1, 1999: 5:32 a.m. ET
Former EU commissioner Leon Brittan to join Warburg Dillon Read unit
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Former European trade boss Leon Brittan announced Friday that he will join Warburg Dillon Read, the investment banking arm of Switzerland's UBS.
However, the former U.K. interior minister will not take up his new vice-chairman position until January 1, distancing himself from the "revolving door" scandal which has dogged other senior officials at the European Commission, the Brussels-based executive arm of the European Union.
Brittan, who entered the Commission 10 years ago as competition commissioner, later held the vice-presidency and trade portfolio. He spearheaded Europe's battles with the United States over issues including hormone-treated beef and banana imports. He left his Commission post on September 15 and had earlier pledged to wait before taking up private sector posts.
Some Commission officials have come under fire for appearing to use their political links to secure highly-paid posts in the private sector, even before leaving their Brussels offices.
Martin Bangemann, who held the Commission's industrial brief alongside Brittan, was forced to pull out of a lucrative directorship with Spanish telecom operator Telefónica in June.
Bangemann, who oversaw the telecom sector, was heavily criticized after seeking to resign his Commission post early to join Telefónica.
Brittan is the second former competition commissioner to enter the investment banking sector. Peter Sutherland, his predecessor in Brussels, is chairman of Goldman Sachs International in London.
Brittan was the longest-serving commissioner in Brussels, and was not implicated in the scandal which forced the Commissioners to resign en masse in March.
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European Commission
UBS
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