Peter James was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford and at University College, London. His first degrees are in Theoretical Physics and in Econometrics and Statistics, and he has a PhD in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics. He was formerly head of International Investment Banking at NationsBank (now Bank of America). He has many years experience in the derivatives markets at Merrill Lynch, DKB Financial Products and Credit Agricole Lazard Financial Products, where he is currently Head of Risk Management.