UK PM Rishi Sunak being probed over wife Akshata Murthy's shares

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under investigation by the parliamentary watchdog over a possible failure to declare shares his wife holds in an agency benefiting from a recent budget, an official said Monday.

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg on Thursday launched the probe into shares Akshata Murty holds in childcare agency "Koru Kids", his office said.

The rules demand that "members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees."

Sunak's office said the prime minister was "happy to assist the Commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a Ministerial interest."

Sunak did not mention Murty's shares in the firm at a recent committee hearing.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt in March announced a pilot of incentive payments for childminders joining the profession, which doubles if workers sign up through sign up through one of six agencies, including Koru Kids.