James Meyer Sassoon, Baron Sassoon, (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
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...
, 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
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
. 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
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
and Mandarin Oriental and chairman of the
China-Britain Business Council.
In November 2017 he was mentioned in the
Paradise Papers
The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...
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
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, ''Groupe d'action financière'' (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat mo ...
2007–2008.
Early life and education
Sassoon is a member of the
Sassoon family
The Sassoon family, known as "Rothschilds of the East" due to the immense wealth they accumulated in finance and trade, are a family of Baghdadi Jewish descent. Originally based in Baghdad, Iraq, they later moved to Bombay, India, and then emigr ...
, and was born in London, the son of Hugh Meyer Sassoon (first cousin of
Siegfried Sassoon) and Marion (née Schiff); he is the great-great grandson of
Sassoon David Sassoon
Sassoon David Sassoon (August 1832 – 24 June 1867) was a British Indian businessman, banker, and philanthropist.
Biography
Early life
Sassoon was born in August 1832 in Bombay, India.William D. Rubinstein, ''The Palgrave Dictionary of An ...
.
He was educated at
Sunningdale School
Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent boarding school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England.
Introduction
Sunningdale School is a small school that seeks to educate its ...
,
a junior boarding independent school in the village of
Sunningdale
Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...
in Berkshire, where he was a friend of
David Profumo
David John Profumo, FRSL (born 20 October 1955), is an English novelist.
Profumo was born in London, the son of former British government minister John Profumo, and his wife, actress Valerie Hobson. The Profumo family is of Italian origin.
Bio ...
, the son of
John Profumo
John Dennis Profumo, CBE,( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo ...
.
[ Thereafter he attended ]Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
, a senior boarding school, also in Berkshire, followed by Christ Church at the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
,[ where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.][
]
Career
Finance
In 1977 Sassoon began his career in finance at Thomson McLintock & Company. In 1985, he joined S.G. Warburg & Co. (later UBS Warburg
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
). He became a director in 1995, leading the firm's privatisation business, and from 2000 to 2002 he served as vice-chairman of investment banking.
Sassoon served as a director of the following organisations: Partnerships UK, 2002–06; Merchants Trust, 2006–10 (chairman 2010); the ifs School of Finance, 2009–10 (chairman) and the Nuclear Liabilities Fund, 2008–2010.
He was a trustee of the National Gallery Trust, 2002–09 and of the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, 2009–10 and 2013–present.
Since 2013 he has been a member of the global advisory board of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.
MUFG holds assets of around US$3.1 trillion as of 2016 and is one of the "Three Great Houses" of the Mitsubishi Group alongside Mitsubishi Corp ...
. 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 International Holdings
DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited (formerly known as Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited) is a Hong Kong retail company with its legal base in Bermuda. A member of the Jardine Matheson Group, it is a major East Asian-Southeast Asian reta ...
and Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited (MOHG) is a Hong Kong hotel investment and management group focusing on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, with a total of 33 properties worldwide, 20 of which are fully or partially ow ...
and chairman of the China-Britain Business Council.
Government and politics
In 2002, he joined HM Treasury, becoming managing director of finance, regulation and industry, and served until 2006. Sassoon then became the chancellor's representative for promotion of the city. In 2007, he was named president of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, ''Groupe d'action financière'' (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat mo ...
, also responsible for combating terrorism financing. He continued in both roles until 2008. Sassoon received a knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
in the 2008 New Year Honours. At that time, he began advising David Cameron, then the Leader of the Opposition, and George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
, then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and became a member of the Shadow Cabinet's Economic Recovery Committee.
In 2009, he wrote ''The Tripartite Review'', a review of the adequacy of the UK's three financial regulators (the Financial Services Authority, HM Treasury and the Bank of England), especially as regards financial stability.
In May 2010, he was named Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, a minister whose portfolio includes financial services and business. In consequence, it was announced he would be made a life peer, and on 3 June 2010 he was introduced in the House of Lords as Baron Sassoon, of Ashley Park
Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, ...
in the County of Surrey.
In the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle it was announced he would be replaced by Lord Deighton in January 2013 as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and in line with Sassoon's desire to return to the private sector.
In November 2017, he was mentioned in the Paradise Papers
The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...
as one of the beneficiaries of a tax exempt Cayman Island trust fund worth $236 million in 2007, and defended its assets as being of non-UK origin contributed only by his grandmother, who had died more than 40 years prior.[
]
Personal life
In 1981, Sassoon married Sarah Barnes, daughter of the former ambassador to Israel and the Netherlands, Sir Ernest John Ward Barnes and Lady Cynthia Barnes of Hurstpierpoint
Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population ...
. They have a son and two daughters.
Arms
References
*'' Who's Who'' 2011
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sassoon, James
1955 births
Living people
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
British businesspeople
British Jews
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Knights Bachelor
People educated at Eton College
People educated at Sunningdale School
James
Jewish British politicians
People named in the Paradise Papers
British people of Indian-Jewish descent
Baghdadi Jews
British politicians of Indian descent
British businesspeople of Indian descent
Life peers created by Elizabeth II