Peter Keith Levene, Baron Levene of Portsoken KBE (born December 8, 1941) is chairman of NBNK Investments plc and was Lord Mayor of London 1998 to 1999.
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Lord Levene has enjoyed a long and varied career in business, government and banking. He is Chairman of NBNK Investments plc.
Previously, he served as Chairman of Lloyd's, the world's leading specialist insurance and reinsurance market from 2002-2011, after having been Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services. Prior to this, he held the position of Chairman of Bankers Trust International and was formerly with both Morgan Stanley and Wasserstein Perella.
He was educated at the City of London School and then studied at the University of Manchester where he graduated with a degree in Economics and Political Science. He joined United Scientific Holdings in 1963, a small company which grew into a substantial supplier to UK and overseas Ministries of Defence. He eventually rose to the post of chairman of that group, in 1981.
Subsequently, he was asked by Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Heseltine, to act as his Personal Advisor in the MoD, and then as Permanent Secretary in the role of Chief of Defence Procurement, a position which he held for six years. He thereafter held a number of Government posts, as Advisor to the Secretary of State for the Environment; to the President of the Board of Trade; and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was appointed as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Efficiency and Effectiveness from 1992 to 1997. During this period, he also served as Chairman of the Docklands Light Railway and then Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Ltd. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of J.Sainsbury plc from 2001-2004, and of Total s.a.,from 2005-2011.
He is an Alderman of the City of London and served as Sheriff of London from 1995-96. He served as Lord Mayor of London for the year 1998-99, in which role he presided over the Corporation of the City of London, and supported and promoted London as an international financial centre. He received a knighthood in 1989 and became a life Peer in July 1997 as Lord Levene of Portsoken.
Lord Levene holds three non-executive directorships, as Chairman of General Dynamics UK Limited and on the boards of Haymarket Group Ltd and China Construction Bank. He is also a member of the House of Lords Select Committee for Economic Affairs. He was appointed by the Secretary of State for Defence in July 2010 to chair the Defence Reform Group, a body set up to review proposals for changes in structure in the UK Ministry of Defence. This body reported in June 2011 and their recommendations are now being implemented.
He is married with three children and speaks French, German and Italian.
Married to Wendy they have three children, two sons working in banking and finance and a daughter working in public relations. He is grandfather to ten grandchildren who live in London and New York.