US President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he intends to dissolve his charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has been under investigation by the New York attorney general.

Trump gave no timeline for winding down the foundation, but said in a statement that he wanted “to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President.” He directed his counsel to take the necessary steps for the dissolution.

With less than four weeks to his Jan 20 inauguration, the New York real estate magnate is under increasing pressure to reduce potential conflicts of interest ranging from his vast global business operations to his family’s philanthropic work.

This week, Trump said his son Eric would stop raising money for his own foundation over concerns that donors could be seen as buying access to the Trump family. The president-elect said it was a “ridiculous shame” that his son’s foundation would stop raising money.

Before Trump’s surprising election victory on Nov 8, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in October directed the Donald J. Trump Foundation to stop taking donations, saying the foundation violated state law requiring charitable organisations that solicit outside donations to register with a state office.

Schneiderman’s order followed a series of reports in The Washington Post that suggested improprieties by the foundation, including using its funds to settle legal disputes involving Trump businesses.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said on Saturday that Trump cannot shutter the foundation while the investigation is ongoing.

“The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,” spokesperson Amy Spitalnick said. She would not comment on expected timing for completing the investigation.

Trump said he was “very proud” of the money raised by the foundation and said it had operated at “essentially no cost for decades.”

“But because I will be devoting so much time and energy to the Presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world,” he added in his statement, “I don’t want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest.”

The Trump Foundation, which was established in 1988, runs no programmes of its own. Instead, it donates to other non-profit groups such as the Police Athletic League for youths.