"It walks like a duck, it talks like a duck -- it is a tax haven, alright? There's no doubt about it."

Deborah Russell, senior lecturer at Massey University's School of Accountancy, says the solutions to our foreign trust law problem are "obvious", and the Government's review is "a bit of a cover-up" that will achieve nothing.

New Zealand was last week revealed as a favourite place for the world's elite to store their wealth, taking advantage of laws which prevent authorities from knowing what's in them, and who they're benefiting.

The Panama Papers -- documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca -- reportedly mention New Zealand 60,000 times.

Yesterday Prime Minister John Key announced a review of our trust laws, headed by tax expert John Shewan. Mr Shewan's appointment has already been met with criticism from the Opposition, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters pointing out he once advised Westpac to try and pay less than half the tax it was legally required to.

Dr Russell says she has no doubt about Mr Shewan's expertise in the minutiae of tax law, but doesn't think he's the right man for the job.

"There are ethical and moral issues here. It's not about anything illegal; it's about whether the law's being pushed too far and we're ethically compromised. I'm not sure that that's what John's going to be focusing on."

In addition to tax, Dr Russell specialises in ethics -- she says a truly neutral academic would have been a better choice to take a look at not just the legality of our trust laws, but how they're being used. Mr Shewan is a former PricewaterhouseCoopers chairman.

Tax authorities presently get very little information about foreign trusts, and though they do have the power to audit them, the problem is not knowing which trusts to look at.

"The way our law is functioning is letting people overseas shelter their assets and income from taxation in the countries they live in," says Dr Russell.