British govt publishes PM Sunak and other ministers' interests

LONDON: Britain's government on Wednesday published an updated list of ministers' interests, including an outline of the affairs of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is under investigation over whether he properly declared his wife's shareholdings. Parliament's Commissioner for Standards began an investigation on April 13 into whether Sunak properly declared his wife's holding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy.

The prime minister's spokesperson said on Monday that Sunak's wife's shareholding in Koru Kids had been transparently declared, and opposition parties called for Sunak to publish an updated list of ministerial interests to improve transparency. That list was published by the Cabinet Office on Wednesday, and refers to Sunak's wife, Akshata Murthy, as a "venture capital investor".

"She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings," the document said. "This includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids."

The list of ministerial interests said that Sunak's own financial interests were handled through a "blind trust/blind management arrangement." The investigation is an embarrassment for Sunak, who came into office in October promising to lead a government with integrity "at every level" as he sought to revive his party's fortunes ahead of a national election expected next year.

Sunak and Murthy are the richest ever occupants of 10 Downing Street. Murthy is the daughter of one of the founders of Indian IT giant Infosys and owns about 0.9% of the company. The couple faced criticism and public anger while Sunak was finance minister over Murthy's "non-domiciled" tax status which meant she did not pay tax in Britain on her earnings abroad. She subsequently gave up the status and said she would pay British tax on her global income.