Google has hired the controversial banker Frank Quattrone, who has beaten charges that he manipulated stock offerings for favoured clients, according to The Times.

Quattrone was accused by federal investigators of trying to cover up evidence that he pushed lucrative stocks towards favoured clients when they went public during the internet boom. His first trial ended in a hung jury and he was convicted in a second trial, but that ruling was later overturned on appeal.

Now he has been hired as a special advisor to Google, possibly to advise on how the search giant will handle the forthcoming planned merger of Microsoft and Yahoo.

In a long career in the sector Quattrone has worked at Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank and was responsible for 400 mergers worth more than $500 billion.