Question

What are the reactions and outcomes that can be attributed tp the leaked Panama Papers?

Answer 1

The Panama papers consist of millions of files leaked from the database of the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonesca. Here is the company’s response to the leak in full.

We cannot provide responses to questions that pertain to specific matters, as doing so would be a breach of our policies and legal obligation to maintain client confidentiality. However, we can confirm the parties in many of the circumstances you cite are not and have never been clients of Mossack Fonseca.

We provide company incorporation and related administrative services that are widely available and commonly used worldwide.

It is legal and common for companies to establish commercial entities in different jurisdictions for a variety of legitimate reasons, including conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, estate planning, personal safety, restructuring and pooling of investment capital from different jurisdictions in neutral legal and tax regimes that does not benefit or disadvantage any one investor.

REACTIONS::

The Panama Papers are provoking a tsunami of reaction on social media and on headlines across the globe. The impact ranges from debates among readers, to officials at the center of stories, to governments, prosecutors and law enforcement authorities.

In just two days, the Panama Papers have incited anger and street protests, conspiracy theories and denunciations, and launched government investigations and potential prosecutions.

Here’s some of the reactions and impact the project has had so far around the world.

Prosecutors, Tax Authorities and Police Are Reading the Panama Papers - In light of the Panama Papers revelations, international authorities have been incited to act.

• France - Prosecutors opened an investigation Monday to determine whether French nationals or financial institutions have used Panama to evade taxes, reported the Wall Street Journal.

• Germany - A Finance Ministry spokesman said Monday that authorities would “pick up the ball” in the case. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is looking into the matter, reported the Huffington Post.

• United Kingdom - British tax authorities have requested access to the Panama Papers, said the BBC. Jennie Granger, Director General of Enforcement and Compliance at Her Majesty’s Revenues & Customs, said, “We have asked the ICIJ to share the leaked data that they have obtained with us. We will closely examine this data and will act on it swiftly and appropriately.”

• United States - The Justice Department is determining if evidence exists to launch any potential prosecutions, said CNBC. A Treasury Department spokeswoman said that the Treasury was reviewing Panama Paper reports. “Where we detect such instances and have the evidence to build a legal case for action, we (will) take action consistent with the national security and foreign policy of the US,” she told the Wall Street Journal.

•Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands are among nations that have also kicked off investigations, reported Reuters.

OUTCOMES::

Almost 3,500 individuals and companies in the Panama Papers are probable matches for suspected criminals including terrorists, cybercriminals and cigarette smugglers, according to a document seen by the Guardian.

The analysis, which was carried out by Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, sheds more light on the breadth of criminal behaviour facilitated by tax havens around the world.

“The main point here is that we can link companies from the Panama Papers leaks not only with economic crimes, like money laundering or VAT carousels, but also with terrorism and Russian organised crime groups,” Simon Riondet, head of financial intelligence at Europol, told a committee of MEPs.

The Panama Papers, leaked files from the offshore services company Mossack Fonseca, revealed that hundreds of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful individuals had used offshore companies to hide their riches.

While the use of offshore structures is legal, critics have long alleged that they can also be used to facilitate improper or unlawful behaviour.

The memo was prepared for a European parliamentary committee investigating how the offshore world can be used to facilitate tax abuse and international crime.

According to the memo, Europol compared a publicly available version of the Panama Papers published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with its own databases of individuals and companies suspected of criminal involvement and identified 3,469 probable matches .