The leaked “Panama Papers” indicate his father Ian had set up an investment fund with the assistance of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
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Among those named for their offshore dealings are relatives of President Xi Jinping and close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.
Offshore companies are not in themselves illegal, and there are numerous legitimate reasons for using them.
The family lives and personal finances of Chinese leaders are taboo subjects for Chinese media and reports on them in the worldwide press can draw angry responses from Beijing.
The director also added that offshore accounts aren’t always illegal.
Mossack Fonseca also said it supports worldwide initiatives requiring greater transparency of newly incorporated companies and trusts and has implemented such measures as part of its own due diligence.
Downing Street had previously insisted that any offshore holdings by members of his family were a “private matter”.
The PM said he would back HMRC to investigate the millions of documents emerging from Panama to ensure “companies and individuals are paying their taxes properly”.
“The biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it’s about corruption”.
The revelations emerged from the leak of 11.5 million confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies. “This is a hack”, Fonseca, 63, said at the company’s headquarters in Panama City’s business district.
Mossack Fonseca has around 40 offices globally, including several in mainland China and others in countries and regions identified as tax havens by the European Commission, such as the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Seychelles, and Anguilla.
Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam said: “We do not condone structures for tax avoidance”.
Three years later, some opposition lawmakers say the release of the “Panama Papers” show the battle is far from won and are demanding that Cameron stamp British control over its overseas territories, most of which are self-governing.
Gareth Tilley, a barrister at Serle Court Chambers said tleaking of the Panama Papers will “certainly bring the practices of offshore financial centres out of the Chancery division and into the spotlight”, but for now it is unlikely to provoke any immediate legislative response in the United Kingdom at least.
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“In Panama, there is a law that sets out retaliation measures against countries that include Panama in “gray lists”, the minister of the presidency, Alvaro Aleman, said Tuesday. It remains on the European Commission’s blacklist of tax haven and non-cooperative jurisdictions. Lawmakers have particularly criticized American tech firms such as Google and Apple for employing what critics say are complex schemes that allow the companies to pay very little tax despite employing hundreds of workers in Britain.
