Former UK Foreign Minister William Hague has joined the boards of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) and ICE Futures Europe, the operators of Europe’s largest emissions market, and will assume the role of chairman of the latter from Jan. 2016.

Hague, Britain’s First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2014 and First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015, will replace Sir Bob Reid as chairman of London-based ICE Futures Europe after 16 years in the role, ICE said in a statement on Thursday.

Hague was a Conservative MP between 1989 and 2015 and the party’s head between 1997 and 2001. He was nominated for a life peerage in the UK House of Lords last month.

“(Hague) brings a unique combination of governmental experience and a deep understanding of business. Our markets will benefit from (his) private and public sector expertise as we seek to continue to grow by serving our customers in new ways,” said Jeffrey Sprecher, chairman and CEO of Atlanta-headquartered ICE, in a press release.

“I’m looking forward to working with Jeff and the rest of the ICE team around the world as the business moves into the next phase of its growth,” Hague added.

ICE currently handles more than 90% of exchange-based secondary market trade in the EU ETS.

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