A news report emerged this week revealing that media baron Rupert Murdoch listed the holding company – Karlholt – for his family's $7 billion media investment in Bermuda last October.

The listing was made on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) in a reported attempt to avoid taxes when moving the company's domicile from Australia to the US, UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported. Mr. Murdoch is Australian, but became a naturalised US citizen some 20 years ago.

As for choosing the BSX, the Telegraph said the Exchange "can boast something of a coup – attracting a float of Rupert Murdoch's personal investment vehicle".

Although Karlholt is now named as one of the BSX's listed issuers, there has been no trades made since its listing last October 27.

Of course there aren't many to trade – and to buy even one share would be well beyond most people's pocket books.

"It was not a conventional float. Only ten shares were issued, each worth about ?380 million ($700 million) with no intention of any trading taking place," the Telegraph said.

Although the powerful media guru Murdoch is not named in the listing, found that a suite of lawyers associated with him and directors on the board of Murdoch company, News Corporation, are. They include: UK-based telecoms lawyer Mark Devereaux, John Mannix, a lawyer with leading law firm in Australia and the Far East, Minter Ellison, and directors Arthur Siskind and David Francis DeVoe. Mr. Siskind and DeVoe both sit on the board of the News Corporation, which is chaired by Mr. Murdoch.

According to a prospectus filed in Bermuda, the float could have "favourable consequences for the company's shareholders under Australian stamp duty legislation". "The listing of the company will also provide access to an efficient facility for executing any future transactions in the company," it said.

The BSX is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges. The affiliation means the Murdochs were exempt from the normal 0.6 percent stamp duty on share transfers across countries, according to the paper.

The Telegraph reported that, based on News Corporation's value, the Murdochs would have saved Australian $53 million (?22 million) stamp duty on the transfer of their 13 percent holding.

As part of the switch to the US, Mr Murdoch changed the name of the holding company for his family assets from Kayarem (the phonetic form of his full initials) to Karlholt. Karlholt has the same pronunciation as Carholt, a new company that forms part of News Corp US, the media company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

The accounts lodged in Bermuda were said to provide an insight into the Murdoch finances. In 2003, the family company received Australia $7.8 million in dividends, down from Australia $8.8 million the year before. It employs seven staff and had general running costs last year of Australia $1.2 million.

Murdoch-controlled News Corporation owns Telegraph rival, The London Times.