British PM Rishi Sunak declares wife Akshata's shares in wake of parliamentary probe

The UK Cabinet Office on Wednesday (April 19) published British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's register of ministerial interests, revealing his wife Akshata Murthy’s shares in a childcare agency in the wake of a parliamentary probe. On April 13, Parliament's Commissioner for Standards started an investigation into whether Prime Minister Sunak properly declared Murthy's holding in Koru Kids which could benefit from a policy in last month's budget.

According to the register, "The Prime Minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings."

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“As the Prime Minister set out in his letter to the Chair of the Liaison Committee on April 4, 2023, this includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids,” the register added.

The list of ministerial interests also said that Sunak's own financial interests were handled through a "blind trust/blind management arrangement."

On Monday, Sunak's spokesperson had said that Akshata Murthy's shareholding in Koru Kids had been transparently declared, and opposition parties called for the prime minister to publish an updated list of ministerial interests to improve transparency.

When Sunak was the finance minister, he and Murthy faced criticism over Murthy's "non-domiciled" tax status which meant she did not pay tax in Britain on her earnings abroad. Murthy subsequently gave up the status and said she would pay British tax on her global income.

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