Minister tackling offshore tax havens … uses an offshore tax haven himself

As the Sunday Times reports:

Lord Myners, the minister in charge of the government’s assault on tax havens, has used a blind trust to conceal £250,000 of his own money in an offshore shelter.

Details of the secret holding have been obtained by The Sunday Times as G20 leaders gather in London pledging to stamp out tax abuses.

Myners transferred 500,000 of his own shares in the Ermitage hedge fund, based in Jersey, into a blind trust when he became a minister in October …

He owned the shares while overseeing price-sensitive policy decisions. During this time he met Jersey officials who now say they have “nothing to fear” from any tax haven crackdown …

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP, said: “Here is a minister calling for greater financial transparency and the end of tax havens while concealing his own tax haven investment. It’s blatant hypocrisy.”