Updated

Argentine President Mauricio Macri has set up a blind trust to handle his financial holdings in response to criticism over his role in two offshore companies that emerged in the "Panama Papers" leak.

Macri says the companies were family businesses and he was a figurehead without compensation.

The blind trust set up Wednesday allows an independent group of people to manage his wealth without contacting him during his presidency.

The former Buenos Aires mayor ran for the presidency last year on a promise to root out Argentina's endemic corruption. He is the son of Italian-born tycoon Francisco Macri, one of the country's richest people.

A federal prosecutor last week asked for authorization to investigate whether Macri "maliciously" omitted his role in the offshore companies in his annual tax declarations.