The
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists will release on May 9 a
searchable database with information on more than 200,000 offshore entities
that are part of the Panama Papers investigation.
The data comes from the Panamanian law firm
Mossack Fonseca, one of the top players in the offshore world, and includes
information about companies, trusts, foundations and funds incorporated in 21
tax havens, from Hong Kong to Nevada in the United States. It links to people
in more than 200 countries and territories.
When the data is released, users will be
able to search through the data and visualize the networks around thousands of
offshore entities, including, when possible, Mossack Fonseca’s internal records
of the company’s true owners. The interactive database will also include
information about more than 100,000 additional companies that were part of the
2013 ICIJ Offshore Leaks investigation.
While the database opens up a world that has
never been revealed on such a massive scale, the application will not be a
“data dump” of the original documents – it will be a careful release of basic
corporate information .
ICIJ won’t release personal data en masse;
the database will not include records of bank accounts and financial
transactions, emails and other correspondence, passports and telephone numbers.
The selected and limited information is being published in the public interest.
Meanwhile ICIJ, the German newspaper
Süddeutsche Zeitung which received the leak, and other global media partners,
including several new outlets in countries where ICIJ has not been able to
report, will continue to investigate and publish stories in the weeks and
months to come.
The Panama Papers investigation revealed the
secret offshore dealings of world leaders and other politicians as well as
criminals and celebrities. It exposed the role of big banks in facilitating
secrecy and tax evasion and avoidance. And it showed how companies and
individuals blacklisted in the U.S. and elsewhere for their links to terrorism,
drug trafficking and other crimes were able to do business through offshore
jurisdictions.
Since its release, the Panama Papers
investigation has led to high profile resignations, including the prime
minister of Iceland; triggered official inquiries in multiple countries; and
put pressure on world leaders and other politicians, such as Britain’s Prime
Minister David Cameron, to explain their connections to offshore companies. It
sparked a new sense of urgency among lawmakers and regulators to close
loopholes and make information about the owners of shell companies public.
In the U.S., where several states act as tax
havens for people from all over the world, President Barack Obama commented on
the Panama Papers revelations and said global tax avoidance facilitated by
secrecy jurisdictions is “a huge problem.” The president added that “a lot of
it is legal, but that’s exactly the problem. It’s not that they’re breaking the
laws, it’s that the laws are so poorly designed.”
The database will be published at
https://offshoreleaks.icij.org on May 9 at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 UTC).
Πηγή: panamapapers.icij.org
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