UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has okayed a request by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to launch an independent probe into his financial declarations.
"The prime minister has agreed to the request from the chancellor for Lord [Christian] Geidt [the PM's adviser on ministers' interests], to undertake this work", a spokesperson for Johnson said on Monday.
They added that the PM is "confident that all the appropriate declarations were followed".
The statement followed Sunak's letter to the UK prime minister, in which the chancellor called for a government investigation into whether all his interests were "appropriately declared" amid a scandal over his spouse's "non-dom" status.
"My overriding concern is that the public retain confidence in the answers they are given and I believe the best way of achieving this is to ensure those answers are entirely independent, without bias or favour", the letter stated.
It was followed by Sunak tweeting that he had "always followed the rules" and that he hopes "such a review" by Lord Geidt "will provide further clarity" on his declarations of interests.
Sunak Under Pressure Over His Wife's 'Non-Dom' Status
The chancellor previously hit back at "smears" about his millionaire wife over her non-domicile tax status, saying that she's a private citizen with her own career and independent investments.
He also claimed that "every single penny that she earns in the UK she pays UK taxes on". British opposition politicians have grilled Sunak demanding more details about his wife's finances after her "non-dom" status was confirmed. This status allows those who aren't permanent residents to avoid UK taxes on money made overseas.
Urgent answers have also been demanded from Sunak after it was reported that he was listed as a beneficiary of trusts in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands set up to manage his wife's business affairs. Sunak, who became chancellor in February 2020, had also been noted that year in documents related to Akshata Murty's wealthy family, according to The Independent.
The UK chancellor's wife is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the Indian-headquartered company Infosys, worth about £690 million ($898 million), in which she holds a 0.9% stake. A spokesperson for Sunak said that they "did not recognise" the claims that the chancellor had been listed as a beneficiary in tax havens.