Tony Blair to join JPMorgan: source

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair is expected on Thursday to join U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc as a senior adviser, according to a person familiar with the situation.

JPMorgan declined to comment. The Financial Times in London first reported the move on its Web site, saying it would be the first of a series positions Blair expects to take in the private sector.

Blair, a key ally of U.S. President George W. Bush, was replaced last year by Gordon Brown as prime minister amid growing discontent over Great Britain's policy in Iraq.

Details of Blair's duties with JPMorgan, the third largest U.S. bank, were not immediately available.

Blair's predecessor, John Major, joined a U.S. finance company after leaving 10 Downing Street.

After leaving office, Major joined U.S. private equity firm The Carlyle Group in 1998 amid that company's big push into the European market.

(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; editing by Carol Bishopric)