The documents, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, came from Mossack Fonseca, a

Panama-based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries

Panama Papers

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorneyclient information for more
than 214,488 offshore entities.[1] The leaked documents were created by Panamanian law firm andcorporate
service provider Mossack Fonseca;[2] some date back to the 1970s.[3]

The leaked documents illustrate how wealthy individuals and public officials are able to keep personal financial
information private.[4] While offshore business entities are often not illegal, reporters found that some of the Mossack
Fonseca shell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, kleptocracy, tax evasion, and evading
international sanctions.[5]

"John Doe", the whistleblower who leaked the documents to German journalist Bastian Obermayer[6][7][8] from the
newspaper Sddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), remains anonymous, even to the journalists on the investigation. "My life is
in danger", he told them.[9] In a May 6 statement, John Doe cited income inequality as the reason for his action, and
said he leaked the documents "simply because I understood enough about their contents to realise the scale of the
injustices they described". He added that he has never worked for any government or intelligence agency. He
expressed willingness to help prosecutors if immune to prosecution. After SZ verified that the statement did come
from the Panama Papers source, ICIJ posted the full document on its website.[10][11]

Because of the amount of data, SZ asked the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for help.
Journalists from 107 media organizations in 80 countries analyzed documents detailing the operations of the law
firm.[3] After more than a year of analysis, the first news stories were published on April 3, 2016, along with 150 of
the documents themselves.[12] The project represents an important milestone in the use of data journalism software
tools and mobile collaboration.

The documents were quickly dubbed the Panama Papers. The Panamanian government strongly objects to the
name; so do other entities in Panama and elsewhere. Some media outlets covering the story have used the name
"Mossack Fonseca papers".[13]
DISCLOSURE:

In addition to the much-covered business dealings of British prime minister David Cameron and Icelandic prime
ministerSigmundur Dav Gunnlaugsson, the leaked documents also contain identity information about the
shareholders and directors of 214,000 shell companies set up by Mossack Fonseca, as well as some of their
financial transactions. Much of this information does not show anything more than prudent financial management. It
is generally not against the law (in and of itself) to own an offshore shell company, although offshore shell
companies may sometimes be used for illegalities

Mossack Fonesca & Co.

Mossack Fonseca & Co. is a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider founded in 1986 and has more
than 40 offices worldwide.[1][3] The firm received worldwide media attention in April 2016, when information about its
clients' financial dealings was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in the Panama
Papers articles, following the release of an enormous cache of its documents from between 1970 and 2015 leaked
to the news media.[4]

The firm was founded by German lawyer Jrgen Mossack in 1977 and joined by Panamanian
novelist/lawyer Ramn Fonsecain 1986.
 - TAX HEAVEN

Some definitions do focus purely on tax: for example, a widely cited academic paper describes a tax haven as
ajurisdiction where particular taxes, such as an inheritance tax or income tax, are levied at a low rate or not at
all.[1] Other definitions refer to a state, country, or territory which maintains a system of financial secrecy, which
enables foreign individuals to hide assets or income to avoid or reduce taxes in the home jurisdiction. Some refer to
"secrecy jurisdictions" as an alternative to "tax havens," to emphasise the secrecy element, and a Financial Secrecy
Index ranks jurisdictions according to their size and secrecy. [2]

Panama as a tax haven

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Republic of Panama is one of the oldest and best-known tax havens in the Caribbean, as well as one of the
most established in the region.[1] Panama has had a reputation for tax avoidance since the early 20th century, and
Panama has been cited repeatedly in recent years as a jurisdiction which does not cooperate with international tax
transparency initiatives.
Panama's offshore sector is intimately tied to the Panama canal, which has made it a gateway and entrept for
international trade.[2] There are strong similarities between Panama and other leading tax havens like Hong Kong,
Singapore and Dubai. On paper at least, Panama has the largest shipping fleet in the world, greater than those of
the US and China combined, according to the Tax Justice Network.

- OFFSHORE COMPANIES

The term offshore company or offshore corporation is used in at least two distinct and different ways. An
offshore company may be a reference to:

a corporation or (sometimes) other type of legal entity which is incorporated or registered in an offshore financial
centreor "tax haven";[1] or
a company or corporate group (or sometimes a division thereof) which engages in offshoring manufacturing or
business services.[2]
- OFFSHORE FINANCIAL CENTERS:
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and
commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds.[2] The
term was coined in the 1980s.[3]The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines an offshore financial centre
as "a country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is
incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy."[4]Although information is still
limited, there is strong evidence that OFCs captured a significant amount of global financial flows and
functions both as back doors and partners of leading financial centre especially since the 1970s.[5]
- KLEPTOCRACY:
Typically this system involves the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population,
sometimes without even the pretense of honest service.

- SHELL COMPANIES:

Some shell companies may have had operations, but those may have shrunk due to unfavorable market
conditions or company mismanagement. A shell corporation may also arise when a company's operations
have been wound up, for example following a takeover, but the shell of the original company continues to
exist.[1]

Shell corporations are not in themselves illegal, and they do have legitimate business purposes. However,
they are a main component of the underground economy, especially those based in tax havens. They may
also be known as international business companies, personal investment companies, front companies,
or "mailbox" companies.