Accounts filed this month suggest the Conservative peer has built a lucrative business since leaving government in 2019 providing “advisory services” to a range of private sector clients and foreign governments. The accounts for Lord Hammond’s firm, Matrix Partners Ltd, cover a period when he worked for the governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, both authoritarian regimes accused by human rights groups of widespread abuses. For the financial year ending March 2022, accounts show that Matrix Partners generated profits of at least £991,465 and possibly £1.4m in its first two years of existence. Hammond owns the company through his holding company Chiswell (Moorgate) Ltd. He did not respond to requests for comment. Hammond, who was at the helm of the Treasury between 2016 and 2019, resigned as an MP in November 2019 and formed Matrix Partners two months later. He had previously held senior government posts, including Foreign Secretary and Defense Secretary. became a peer in September 2020. According to the Lords interests register, his firm’s clients include Japanese investment bank Nomura, US hedge fund Davidson Kempner and London property developer Canary Wharf Group. Last year, the Whitehall watchdog that evaluates the jobs of former ministers after they leave government reprimanded Hammond for using his government connections to help a bank, OakNorth, that paid him for advice. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) said the former chancellor’s use of his Treasury contacts was “unacceptable” and inconsistent with rules that sought to prevent ex-ministers from providing unfair access or influence over the government to clients of the private sector. Months earlier, Acoba approved his work through Matrix Partners for the Saudi finance minister, but acknowledged that Hammond’s inside knowledge of the British government “could be seen as giving the Saudis an unfair advantage.” Subscribe to the Business Today daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter @BusinessDesk Acoba also signed Hammond’s work for the government of Bahrain. He told the committee that this would include working for the Treasury as well as providing “strategic advice as part of an advisory board of senior British officials” with defense, security and foreign policy backgrounds. Hammond, who worked as a property developer before becoming an MP, has also returned to property. Earlier this year, he went into business with former Conservative election strategist Sir Lynton Crosby in a new venture, Municipal Partners, a “for-profit social impact business” that plans to lease homes to local authorities with social housing shortages. Do you have information on this story? Email [email protected] or use Signal or WhatsApp to text (UK) +44 7584 640566 or (US) +1 646 886 8761.
