Lord Turner to join Soros-funded think tank

Lord Turner, the outgoing chairman of the now-disbanded Financial Services Authority (FSA), is to take up a post with a US think tank co-founded by billionaire investor George Soros.

Lord Turner will become senior fellow in the London offices of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (Inet).

He was seen as a front-runner to become governor of the Bank of England before Canadian Mark Carney was appointed.

On Monday, two separate regulatory bodies replaced the FSA.

The Prudential Regulation Authority will oversee the stability of financial services firms and be part of the Bank of England, while the Financial Conduct Authority is now the City's behavioural watchdog.

"In the wake of the financial crisis, economics must address fundamental issues and ask questions about its own pre-crisis failures," Lord Turner said.

"Inet is playing a major role in supporting new research and new approaches - I am delighted that I will play a role in its activities."

Inet executive director Robert Johnson described Lord Turner as "one of the most brilliant and courageous economic and financial thinkers in the world today".

Mr Soros is perhaps best known in the UK for betting heavily against the pound during the exchange rate crisis of 1992, earning him a reputation as "the man who broke the Bank of England".

Alongside Mr Soros, other major donors to Inet include economist Paul Volcker, banker David Rockefeller and Lord Sainsbury.

Mr Carney will take over from Sir Mervyn King as governor of the Bank of England in July this year.