James Sassoon, Baron Sassoon
James Meyer Sassoon, Baron Sassoon, FCA (born 11 September 1955) is a British businessman and politician. After a career in the financial sector he served in various roles in HM Treasury, the UK's finance ministry, from 2002 to 2008, at which point he began advising David Cameron on financial issues. From May 2010 to January 2013, Sassoon was the first Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and was appointed to the House of Lords as a Conservative. In January 2013, he became an executive director of Jardine Matheson Holdings and of Matheson & Co. He is also a director of Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm and Mandarin Oriental and chairman of the China-Britain Business Council.
The Right Honourable The Lord Sassoon | |
|---|---|
| Commercial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 11 May 2010 – 3 January 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Deighton |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 29 May 2010 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 September 1955 London |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Sarah Barnes |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Sunningdale School Eton College |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
In November 2017 he was mentioned in the Paradise Papers as one of the beneficiaries of a tax exempt Cayman Island trust fund worth $236 million in 2007 and defended it as being of non UK origin. Sassoon was president of the international Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering 2007–2008.