Panama Papers

It's too early to draw conclusions on any links between banks in the UK and the "Panama Papers" leak, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.

The watchdog has written to around 20 financial institutions asking if they've dealt with Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the heart of the leak.

FCA acting chief executive Tracey McDermott told the Treasury Select Committee: "It is far too early to give any view as to preliminary findings," and said a significant amount of the business would be expected to be "perfectly legal".

Panamanian authorities raided a property used by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm whose leaked documents led to the 'Panama Papers' revelations.

"We have secured a large amount of evidence found in the location," said organized crime investigator Javier Caraballo, adding that some of the evidence was in the form of shredded documents.

The Panama Papers leaks have embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.

Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in setting up offshore companies, has said it broke no laws, destroyed no documents and all its operations were legal.

A new poll suggests 44% of people think that Prime Minister David Cameron's handling of his finances has been "morally repugnant".

According to the ComRes poll for The Independent and Sunday Mirror 52% of those asked also believed Cameron has not been "honest and open" about his financial affairs.

The poll of 2,036 adults who were interviewed online on April 13 and 14 2016 follows the unprecedented step taken by the Prime Minister to publish details of his tax returns in the wake of the Panama Papers data leak.

The prime minister traded blows with Jeremy Corbyn over tax affairs in the first PMQs since the Panama papers leak.

The Prime Minister drew attention to the Labour leader's 2014-15 tax return which did not contain details of his pension income and which was the subject of a £100 fine for being submitted late.

Mr Cameron said: "I thought your tax return was a metaphor for Labour policy - it was late, it was chaotic, it was inaccurate, it was uncosted."

Mr Corbyn hit back: "I'm grateful to the Prime Minister for drawing attention to my own tax return, warts and all.

"The warts being my handwriting, all being my generous donation to HMRC - I actually paid more tax than some companies owned by people that you might know quite well."

Voters should not expect all politicians to be "perfect" or "normal", according to former Tory MP William Hague.

Lord Hague said an "age of greater transparency" would require more and more openness by public figures and that politics would be diminished if all were found to be squeaky clean.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, he warned that Parliament would be "very one dimensional" if all politicians came through the public sector with no questions of business ownership or dividends.

The 55-year-old former Conservative leader's comments came after Chancellor George Osborne and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn became the latest people to publish their tax returns on Monday.

He added that Winston Churchill's tax affairs "would have been more difficult to defend in public than Prime Minister David Cameron's".