The former head of the Swiss National Bank, forced to resign in January following insider-trading allegations, has taken up a position at Britain’s Oxford University.

Philipp Hildebrand, who attended Oxford for his doctorate on international relations, has been appointed a senior visiting fellow at the newly founded Blavatnik School of Government.

“Dr Hildebrand brings a rich experience not just of government and financial markets, but also of research and teaching,” the school’s dean Ngaire Woods said in a statement on its website.  

The Blavatnik School of Government was launched in September 2010 with a £75 million (SFr108 million) donation to Oxford by American philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik.

Hildebrand resigned in January after emails cast doubt on his claims not to have known about a lucrative foreign exchange trade made by his wife Kashya in August, weeks before the SNB moved to stop the Swiss franc climbing.
 
Hildebrand was accused of insider trading after details of the currency transactions were leaked. The SNB chairman denied the charge.

Meanwhile Swiss prosecutors have widened the probe into the leaking of the Hildebrands’ private bank information that helped force him to resign.

The home and firm of the former justice minister and rightwing Swiss People's Party strongman Christoph Blocher were searched on Tuesday as part of the criminal inquiry.

Speaking in a video broadcast on his website on Wednesday, Blocher claimed the investigation was politically motivated and called the allegations against him far-fetched.

Blocher said he had acted as a parliamentarian. "I certainly won't voluntarily give up my [parliamentary] immunity," he added.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative