Former Prime Minister Paul Keating might have to register on the Turnbull government's agents of foreign influence list because he sits on an advisory council for a Chinese government development bank, Fairfax Media understands.

Sources have told Fairfax Media that a reading of the criteria of the government's new transparency scheme requiring agents of foreign influence to register on a public list suggests someone in Mr Keating's circumstances would have to seriously consider registering themselves.

The former prime minister sits on an advisory council to the China Development Bank, a state-owned bank that raises money for large infrastructure projects. Mr Keating declined to comment on Wednesday.

Under the scheme, which the government has stressed does not taint the people or organisations listed on it but merely lets Australians know who has connections to foreign powers, anyone representing foreign interests is expected to register.