“I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that,” Cameron said/AFP
LONDON, United Kingdom, Apr 5 – Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that he had no personal offshore funds and defended his record on tackling tax avoidance, after the so-called Panama Papers raised questions about his family’s financial affairs.
A massive leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed how an investment fund co-founded by Cameron’s late father, Ian Cameron, avoided paying taxes in Britain for 30 years by basing itself in the Bahamas.
Faced with calls by the opposition Labour party for an investigation into all those implicated in the leak, including his family, Cameron said that his wealth consisted of his salary, some savings and a house.
“I own no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that,” Cameron said.
The Conservative leader said nothing about his family’s potential offshore holdings, an issue that his office had previously said was a “private matter”.
The revelations about his father are embarrassing for Cameron, who has sought to lead international efforts to improve financial transparency and whose government hosts an anti-corruption summit next month.
He insisted that “no prime minister has done more” to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, and said British authorities would look into the Panama leaks.
However, campaigners called for more action to tackle secretive company ownership in British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn raised the prospect of taking control of the territories if they did not act.
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