George Richard Pinto

George Richard Pinto (11 April 1929 – 10 September 2018) was a British merchant banker with Kleinwort Benson who played a key role in that firm scooping much of the advisory work when British publicly owned companies were privatised under the government of Margaret Thatcher.

Pinto was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He did national service in the Coldstream Guards, and then worked for the accountancy firm Cooper Brothers. In 1958 he moved to merchant bankers Robert Benson Lonsdale, who then merged with Kleinwort, Sons & Co to form Kleinwort Benson. He was a director of Kleinwort Benson from 1968 to 1985. His aunt Dorothy married into the Rothschild family and his sister Ann into the Marks family part of the Marks and Spencer dynasty.

Pinto donated over £300,000 to the Conservative Party between 2006-2020. The Jewish Chronicle referred to him in their obituary as an "Unapologetic Zionist, merchant banker and talented eccentric". From a Sephardic Jewish family, Pinto served as the vice president of the Anglo-Israel Association, the treasurer of the Israel Diaspora Trust and was the co-chair of governors of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Family background

The Pinto family tree

• Father: Major Richard Pinto, Mother: Gladys Pinto (nee Hirsch)
• Aunt: Dorothy de Rothschild (nee Pinto) (1885-1998)
• Uncle: James Armand de Rothschild (1 December 1878 – 7 May 1957)
• Sister: Ann Catherine Marks (nee Pinto)
• Brother in law: Michael Marks
• Nephew: Simon Richard Marks

Eugene Pinto (b1854. d.1932), who was a well known member of the stock exchange according to the Jewish Chronicle (1891) married Catherine Cohen (b.1872 d.1939), daughter of Levi Cohen who co-founded the Liberal Synagogue in London. Eugene and Catherine had two children together; Dorothy Mathilde (March 7, 1895–1988) later became Dolly de Rothschild after her marriage to James Armand de Rothschild in 1913 at the age of seventeen. Dolly spent her time assisting her husband in his Zionist political affairs, and rubbing shoulders with influential Zionist/Israeli personalities as a result. 'In 1917, when her husband went to Palestine with the British army, Dorothy lived with her parents-in-law in Paris. Here she learnt in detail about the Jewish settlements which Baron Edmond was supporting in Palestine and almost daily she talked to him about his hopes and dreams for the Promised Land. One of the Baron’s settlements, Shadmot Devorah, was named after her.' She was decorated with many awards for her work, including an MBE for her efforts in civil defence during WWII. Dorothy outlived her husband and as per his wishes controlled the trusts he had formed for the benefit of the Jewish community in Israel and other lands until she passed in 1988 with no children to survive her.

Eugene and Catherine Pinto’s second child was Richard James Pinto; born in 1892. Richard James procured the title of Major later in his life as well as receiving a Military Cross for his efforts in the forces. He served in the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1910 and was promoted that year to supernumerary second lieutenant. Major Richard Pinto married Gladys Minna Maud Hirsch (b1899- d1985) in 1919 and the couple had two children together; Ann Catherine Pinto (b.1923) and George Richard Pinto (b.1929). Major Richard James Pinto died in 1969.

Ann Catherine married into the Marks family in 1949, her husband was Michael Marks 2nd Baron Marks of Broughton (b.1920) who shares the name of his paternal Grandfather and is son to Simon Marks, 1st Baron of Broughton (b.1888- d.1964) and Miriam Sieff (b. ? d.1971). Their marriage failed and they were divorced in 1958 with three children between them; Simon Richard Marks (b.1950), Naomi Ann Marks (b.1952) and Sarah Elizabeth Marks (b.1953). Michael Marks went on to marry and divorce a further three wives; in 1960 he married Helene Fischer, daughter of Gustave Fischer, they were divorced in 1965. Next, Marks married Toshiko Shimura, of Japan in 1976, they were divorced in 1985. His third marriage was to Liyang Zhang between the years of 1985 and 1993, and before 1994 they were divorced. His fourth and final marriage was to Marina Collins (former wife of Leslie Collins), daughter of Demetrios Sakalis, of Athens, Greece in 1994. Michael Marks died in 1998 while still married to Marina Collins. He fathered only the three children from his first marriage and was thus succeeded by Simon Richard Marks, again inheriting the name of his paternal Grandfather, the 3rd Baron Marks of Broughton, of Sunningdale county Berkshire in 1964.

Simon Richard Marks married Mariah Norton (b?), daughter of Peter Norton in 1982 and they have four children together; Hon. Miriam Ann Marks (b.1983), Hon. Susannah Elizabeth Marks (b.1986), Hon. Michael Marks (b.1989) and Hon. Rebecca Marks (b.1997).

Simon Richard’s sister Hon. Naomi Anne (b.1952), the second child of Michael and Ann Catherine Marks was married in 1980 to Martin Christian Wölffer (who goes by Christian Wölffer) (b.?) and they have two children; Joanna Claire Wölffer (b.1982) and Georgina Chloe Wölffer (b.1985).

The youngest of Ann Catherine and Michael Marks’ children, Hon. Sarah Elizabeth Marks (b.1953) was married in 1979 to Nicholai Radomir (b.?), they had two children together; Michael Richard Radomir (b.1981) and Leo Mark Radomir (b.1985) before they were divorced in 1989.

Richard and Gladys Pinto’s second child George Richard (b.1929) is a former director of Kleinwort Benson (Hope, 2013) and is co-chairman of the board of governors at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, where he also previously served for a time as director. Other engagements with Jewish charitable organisations include his role as Honorary Treasurer of the Israel-Diaspora Trust from 2005-2013, simultaneously he acted as Vice-President at the Anglo-Israel Association and appears to still hold this position George Pinto was also director of the following organisations: Persimmon Books Ltd, A.I.A. Trading Ltd and Grindelward Enterprises Ltd, the former two companies have been dissolved. He is known for political donations to the Tory party in the UK and is known to have donated the following amounts according to Search the Money:

• £107,203.43 on the 31/3/2006,
• £9,999.00 on the 27/4/2010,
• £10,000.00 in the 18/5/2011 and
• £10,269.00 in June 2013

His charitable activities extend further in the form of trusts aiming to benefit the Jewish community. He is the settlor of the GRP Charitable Trust which was set up in 1968 of which Kleinwort Benson acts as corporate trustee. The CH Charitable Trust was also established by George Richard in 1980 with Kleinwort Benson the sole trustee. The AM Charitable Trust was established in 1968 by another family member, George’s sister Anne Catherine Marks, the trustee is once again Kleinwort Benson. Their mother Gladys Pinto also set up a similar trust in 1970 named the GP Charitable Trust which yet again has Kleinwort Benson as trustee, the financial accounts for this trust are not available to the public due to the minimum threshold employed by the Charity Commission- this charities annual return is lower than £10,000. The three charities whose annual returns are available support various Zionist causes. The common beneficiaries across these three charities are The Anglo-Israel Association, Community Security Trust, The Jerusalem Foundation, Traditional Alternatives Foundation, UK Friends of AWIS and the United Jewish Israel Appeal.

Tory donor

According to Search the Money, Pinto gave the following amounts to the Conservative Party between 2006 and 2013:

• George R Pinto | £107,203.43 | 2006-03-31
• George R Pinto | £9,999.00 | 2010-04-27
• George R Pinto | £10,000.00 | 2011-05-18
• George R Pinto | £10,269.00 | 2013-06

Affiliations

• Created the GRP Charitable Trust and the C H (1980) Charitable Trust

Charities

• Hon Treasurer of the Israel-Diaspora Trust between 2005-2013.
• Vice President Anglo-Israel Association 2011-2014.

Company directorships

• DIRECTOR Appointed: PRE 07/06/1991

Occupation: RETIRED BANKER

Company Number: 01109384

Company Name: Oxford Centre For Hebrew And Jewish Studies

Active

• DIRECTOR Appointed: PRE 31/12/1991

Occupation: BANKER

Company Number: 01597128

Company Name: Persimmon Books Limited

Active

• DIRECTOR Appointed: 17/07/1991

Dissolved: 15/06/2004

Occupation: RETIRED

Company Number: 02597401

Company Name: A.I.A. Trading Limited

Dissolved

• DIRECTOR Appointed: PRE 08/08/1992

Dissolved: 21/07/1998

Occupation: BANKER

Company Number: 01094892

Company Name: Grindelward Enterprises Limited

Dissolved