Australian PM Turnbull named in Panama Papers: AFR

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been named in the Panama Papers as a former director of a British Virgin Islands company set up to exploit a Siberian gold prospect, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.

Turnbull and former New South Wales Premier Neville Wran joined the board of Australian-listed Star Mining NL in 1993. The company hoped to develop a A$20 billion (S$20.1 billion) Siberian gold mine called Sukhoi Log, the paper said.

Both Turnbull and Wran were subsequently appointed directors of Star Technology Services, a subsidiary of Star Mining in the British Virgin Islands which had been incorporated by Mossack Fonseca, the Panama-based law firm at the centre of the global scandal.

There was no suggestion Turnbull acted improperly and he resigned from both companies in 1995, the AFR said. Turnbull's spokesman had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

The details are included in documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists known as the Panama Paper but are not part of the publicly searchable database, the AFR reported.

Tax havens and transparency have been thrust into the spotlight as governments worldwide launch probes into possible financial wrongdoing after the details of hundreds of thousands of clients' tax affairs were leaked from Mossack Fonseca.

Turnbull, a former investment banker and technology entrepreneur, is campaigning ahead of a general election on July 2, with his ruling Liberal-National coalition in a virtual tie with the main opposition.