James Cook is an American investor, banker, and financier. He served as managing partner of

The U.S. Russia Investment Fund The U.S. Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF) was an investment fund from 1995 to 2008. It was established by the United States government to make private investments in the Russian economy. By 2005, it had invested $300 million in 44 Russian companies. ...

(TUSRIF) and Delta Capital Management and chairman and CEO of GE Capital in Russia. He was the co-founder of Aurora Russia Limited, AIM-listed private equity firm active in Russia. He was instrumental in turning around Russia's financial system after the

1998 Russian financial crisis The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the Russian rouble, ruble and sovereign default, defau ...

, when he launched the first mortgage bank in Russia and became known as the "father of mortgage lending" in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He later introduced the first revolving credit card in Russia and launched a nationwide leasing company in

. Recently, he was a major fundraiser for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

Early life

James Cook grew up in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. He graduated from

Hampden–Sydney College Hampden–Sydney College (H-SC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Men's colleges in the United States, college for men in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. Founded in 1775, it is the oldest privatel ...

, and he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business. He also graduated from the

Mortgage Bankers Association The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing all facets of the real estate finance industry in the United States and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. MBA represents over 2,200 member companies. MBA’s memb ...

's School of Mortgage Banking.

Career

Cook worked in marketing for the Virginia Tech Credit Union while he was in college. He subsequently worked as a loan officer for the Investors Savings Bank in Richmond. By 1988, he joined the

Virginia Housing Development Authority Virginia Housing, formerly the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), is a self-supporting organization created by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1972, to help Virginians attain quality affordable housing. Mortgages are funded by bonds i ...

as a compliance officer. Cook went to work as deputy director of the

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations, and p ...

in Russia in 1994, where he was tasked with teaching Russian bankers about mortgages. He began working for Delta Capital Management in 1996, only to be promoted as its senior vice president in 2000. Meanwhile, by 1999, he also served as the senior vice president of

(TUSRIF), an investment fund managed by Delta Capital. Cook offered his first mortgage at the Delta Capital Management in 1997. As most Russians had never taken loans before, Cook and other bankers turned to ex-

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

officers to do background checks for them. Cook was appointed as the chairman and chief executive officer of GE Consumer Finance, a Russia-based subsidiary of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, in 2004. He also served on the boards of directors of OSG, Unistream, Fora Bank, Kreditmart, DeltaBank, DeltaCredit, Europlan, Flexinvest Bank, and the

ICICI Bank ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in Vadodara. It offers a wide range of banking and financial services for corporate and retail customers throu ...

in Russia. Cook co-founded Aurora Russia Limited, a private equity firm, in 2006. The firm attracted $150 million, and it was listed on the

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market, Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in opera ...

, a submarket of the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, until 2016. Meanwhile, the two men created three businesses with the fund, including KreditMart, a mortgage and consumer loan firm. Cook believes that the

"was the best thing that could have happened" to Russian banks, as it taught them to diversify their assets. He is known as the "father of mortgage lending" in Russia.

Political activity

On October 4, 2015, Cook hosted a fundraiser for

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

at his Paris residence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, James Living people Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia Hampden–Sydney College alumni Virginia Tech alumni American expatriates in Russia American bankers General Electric people American chief executives of financial services companies American company founders American corporate directors Year of birth missing (living people)