Merrill Lynch said Wednesday Harold E. Ford Jr., a former Democratic congressman from Tennessee, is joining the financial services provider as vice chairman and senior policy adviser, effective March 5.
Ford served in Congress for five terms starting in 1996. He sat on the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services.
Ford will advise senior management on domestic policy issues, serve as a member of the firm's public policy and social responsibility management committee, and support a variety of business development initiatives in the institutional and retail markets, Merrill Lynch said.