Graham Nicholson joined the Bank in January 2009 having spent his career up to that time at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. After a period working in the firm's New York office, he helped establish the firm's first Asian office in Singapore in 1980 and, following his return to London, became departmental managing partner of the company department in 1986 (which later divided to become the corporate and finance departments) and managing partner of the firm between 1990 and 1993, before returning to full time practice.
At Freshfields his work spanned a wide range of the firm’s clients over the years, and particularly for financial institutions clients, such as the London Stock Exchange; Zurich Financial Services and Lloyd’s and Equitas on the reconstruction of the Lloyd’s insurance market in 1996 and the subsequent progress of Equitas.
Graham read law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and attended the Advanced Manager Program at Harvard Business School in 1990.