CIA allows sale of espionage expertise to financial firms

Washington: The CIA is allowing operatives to sell their espionage expertise to financial firms and hedge funds, according to a forthcoming book. Officials admitted that the policy was necessary to prevent officers from leaving the spy agency for the private sector, where their skills can command very high salaries.

There has been an exodus of CIA officers in recent years, at a time when the US is fighting two wars and leading international efforts against Al Qaida. In one instance, agents worked at a New York hedge fund consulting firm that wanted to draw on their skills in "deception detection", the art of picking up clues in body language and conversation to ascertain when executives might be lying. Details of the policy appear in Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage by Eamon Javers.

Officials said the out-of-hours work did not compromise national security.

"If any officer requests permission for outside employment, those requests are reviewed not just for legality, but for propriety," said George Little, a CIA spokesman.

It is not known how long the policy has been in place or how many CIA officers are involved but is an indication of the attractiveness of CIA techniques to financial institutions.