Labour has raised questions about Mr Javid’s suitability to run the public finances after his time at the
German investment bank, which was described by a US Senate committee as “a financial snake pit rife with
greed, conflicts of interest and wrongdoing”.
Mr McDonnell also questioned his counterpart over the bank’s involvement in trading collateralised debt
obligations, a complex financial product deemed to have played a role in the 2008 crisis.
In the letter, obtained by The Guardian, Mr McDonnell said: “Mr Javid’s widely reported implication in
some of the worst excesses of the casino economy, defending the sale of high-risk financial products that
contributed to the 2008 crisis, calls into question whether he can be trusted with the secure stewardship of
the nation’s finances.
“It will not be lost on those that have suffered the consequences of the last nine years of austerity following
the 2008 financial crisis that the newly appointed chancellor profited from the greed that contributed to it.”
Mr McDonnell highlighted comments associating Mr Javid with collateralised debt obligations, described
by American business magnate Warren Buffett as “financial weapons of mass destruction”.
The Labour frontbencher also questioned Deutsche Bank’s use of the Dark Blue scheme, found to
constitute tax avoidance by the Supreme Court, which saw bonus shares awarded to staff through a Cayman
Islands company, known as Dark Blue Investments. Mr McDonnell also demanded Mr Javid publish his tax
returns.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Frankly, Labour might want to use the time better thinking about
their own credentials for governing.
“Not content with antisemitism being rife in their party and their totally incoherent Brexit policy, the only
threat to the UK economy is them.
“Their reckless plans would see debt soaring as they spend one thousand billion pounds, tax raids on hard-
working families, and upheaval of our economic system by replacing key posts such as the governor of the
Bank of England with their hard-left choices. Utter disaster.
“If any party knows about failure and bogus investigations, it’s them.”