The Bank of England foreign exchange chief who lost out to George Soros 12 years ago when Soros forced sterling out of the European exchange rate mechanism, has left the bank to join a hedge fund.

William Allen has left the Bank of England to join Brevan Howard, the fixed income macro hedge fund manager that has raised more than $4bn (€3.3bn) since launching its fund last year. A spokesman for Brevan Howard said Allen will work full-time at the hedge fund manager, as an economist.