NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

John Key's lawyer Ken Whitney not calling himself a lawyer anymore

By Pattrick Smellie
BusinessDesk·
5 May, 2016 03:04 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Ken Whitney.

Ken Whitney.

The man routinely described as Prime Minister John Key's lawyer, Ken Whitney, is not in fact a lawyer anymore.

A central figure in the New Zealand fallout from the Panama Papers release, Whitney gave up his practicing certificate with the New Zealand Law Society in February, at the same time as he established Antipodes Group, a specialist foreign trust advisory firm, according to a detailed blog on the matter by former Reuters correspondent-turned-blogger Simon Louisson.

Written a fortnight ago, unchallenged by Whitney and unreported by mainstream media in that time, the blog on Labour-aligned website, The Standard, quotes Whitney on his decision not to remain registered to practice law.

Read more:
• Prime Minister John Key agrees lawyer's email was 'sloppily written'
• The Antipodes email: John Key, his lawyer and foreign trusts
• Editorial: PM to blame for sloppy trust affair

Asked by Louisson whether he was Key's lawyer, the Auckland-based businessman initially said: "Yes."After some discussion, he amended this to: "I'm not calling myself a lawyer; Mr Key is.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Louisson went on to report that "later (Whitney) conceded he was retired from legal practice, although he said he was a consultant with Alexander Dorrington Lawyers, the practice that bought Whitney's practice, Ross & Whitney, in February 2014, which he shared with Ian Ross.

"Whitney said he was aware he was not registered, with Alexander Dorrington doing most of the actual legal work on his advice, Louisson wrote.

"Asked if, given the publicity generated by the revelation that Key had an account with Antipodes, which specialises in offshore trusts, that Whitney did not have a responsibility to clarify the situation, Whitney said: 'No, I didn't feel any need to comment'," The Standard article says.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Key initially defended Whitney's name-checking Key in a letter last year to Revenue Minister Todd McClay, urging the government not to let the Inland Revenue Department conduct a review of New Zealand's permissive foreign trust regime, which the Panama Papers release has highlighted.

Key later said Whitney had misrepresented him in the letter but maintained his action in advising Whitney to take the matter up with the relevant minister was appropriate and normal.

The Green and Labour parties are seeking to connect McClay's confirmation five months later that no investigation would occur to an implied instruction from Key in Whitney's letter.

Key has described Whitney as a long-time friend who had handled his private legal affairs for years and continues to manage his New Zealand-registered private blind trust, Aldgate.

Discover more

Business

Antipodes email: What Key's lawyer did

28 Apr 05:24 PM
New Zealand|politics

Email was 'sloppily written': Key

03 May 12:32 AM
Tourism

Hey, Bill! This is what your budget needs

05 May 05:00 PM
Business

Quick reaction on trusts 'dangerous'

07 May 11:54 PM

Companies Office records show Whitney and Ross are directors of scores of firms, many with offshore owners.

Meanwhile, Transparency International says it is "extremely surprised and disappointed at the limited scope of the Shewan inquiry" into New Zealand's foreign trust law settings, which allow the country's global reputation for high integrity to be exploited by foreign interests seeking to shelter funds from income tax in their own countries.

Former PwC New Zealand chairman and tax expert John Shewan has been appointed to undertake a review that TI says should go beyond foreign trusts "to tackle the broader spectrum of financial crime risks associated with New Zealand companies and trusts.

"Government agencies had already done work in this area and it was important that New Zealand entities not be used to disguise such financial crimes as "money-laundering and ill-gotten asset transfers and other forms of international corruption."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Retail

Winter chill boosts spending as Kiwis go clothes shopping

Premium
Business
|Updated

Butlers Chocolate Cafe closes: What went wrong, who’s owed money?

Premium
Analysis

American allies want to redraw the world’s trade map, minus the US


Sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Premium
Winter chill boosts spending as Kiwis go clothes shopping
Retail

Winter chill boosts spending as Kiwis go clothes shopping

Consumers splashed out on winter apparel in June, but hospitality spending fell.

14 Jul 12:32 AM
Premium
Premium
Butlers Chocolate Cafe closes: What went wrong, who’s owed money?
Business
|Updated

Butlers Chocolate Cafe closes: What went wrong, who’s owed money?

13 Jul 11:10 PM
Premium
Premium
American allies want to redraw the world’s trade map, minus the US
Analysis

American allies want to redraw the world’s trade map, minus the US

13 Jul 11:04 PM


Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
Sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

15 May 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP