Attorney General Mark Pettingill is to become chief legal officer for Clarien Bank — but he won’t immediately step down as top legal advisor to the Government when he takes on the private sector role.

Instead, Mr Pettingill is expected to stay in Cabinet as Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister until the role of AG becomes non-political — a change The Royal Gazette understands could take place later this year.

Having an Attorney General picked from among parliamentarians to advise the Government on legal issues, as opposed to an independent lawyer, was introduced shortly after the Progressive Labour Party was first elected to power in 1998.

The then-Opposition United Bermuda Party criticised the move, with John Barritt calling it a failed “experiment” in 2003.

Sources say Mr Pettingill will start working for Clarien Bank in the autumn, while overseeing the restructuring of the Attorney General’s Chambers and the change back to a non-partisan AG.

On Friday night, Opposition leader Marc Bean said he had heard reports that Mr Pettingill had accepted a job with the bank.

“Rumours have been spreading,” he said. “The word coming from the One Bermuda Alliance benches is that our learned Attorney General has accepted a job at Clarien Bank,” Mr Bean told MPs in the House of Assembly during the motion to adjourn, which was dominated by the Jetgate affair.

When Mr Pettingill failed to respond to the claim, Mr Bean added: “No point of order? Nothing? Silence?

“The word on the street is that our learned Attorney General has accepted — not ‘will accept’ or ‘has been offered’ but has accepted — a job at Clarien Bank. It’s interesting because that raises some questions.”

This newspaper has been told that Mr Pettingill’s decision to take the job at Clarien was unrelated to Jetgate.

The bank — which last month underwent a major facelift, changing its name from Capital G — is understood to have approached him earlier this year with the offer. Both former Premier Craig Cannonier and Governor George Fergusson were informed of the situation last month.

Mr Pettingill declined to comment yesterday, while a One Bermuda Alliance spokesman said he did not know any details about the story. Representatives from Clarien also failed to return requests for comment by this newspaper.

Mr Pettingill stepped down from his own law practice, Charter Chambers Bermuda, after being appointed Attorney General following the One Bermuda Alliance’s victory in the 2012 general election.

He earns $203,045 a year as full-time AG but it is understood that there are no regulations which stipulate that an Attorney General cannot fill the post part-time and hold down another job outside of government.

One legal source said that while attorneys general are not permitted to practice law, they can work in other sectors. The source added that the post of Attorney General was regarded as a full-time position and it was therefore unadvisable to take on additional workloads.

A second legal source said: “It’s totally potentially conflictual, without a doubt. It’s a highly conflictual position to take. Suppose his Cabinet colleagues take a certain position against Clarien as a corporate entity? Where does that leave him? He can’t serve two masters.

“The first time there is an issue of alleged money laundering, the national anti-money laundering committee is obligated to investigate that and the AG is an ex-officio member of that committee. That’s just one instance. What would he hope to gain by keeping both jobs?”

A Government spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the changing AG role by press time.