The Panama Papers

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DK

DK

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Over 11 million documents belonging to the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca have been leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung and forwarded onto the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, alleging that the company has helped clients dodge sanctions and taxes and launder money, such as Bank Rossiya (run by a close friend of Putin, it was hit by EU & US sanctions following the annexation of Crimea), as well as 72 current and former heads of state such as Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad, Mubarak and Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson (ex-Icelandic PM).

BBC
SZ (in German)
 
...Wow. This is a stuff of John Le Carre novels. Is it just me who finds it interesting to note that out of 70+ heads of state BBC chose to mention Putin and his pal along the same breathe as Mubarak, Gadaffi and that prime minister from Iceland whose name I can't pronounce.
 
Omnis
But what about SANR?
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Their oilfields on the Angola-Zaïre border haven't been doing too well since they got a visit from a one-eyed man in 1984 ...

JKgo
[the] BBC chose to mention Putin and his pal along the same breathe as Mubarak, Gadaffi and that prime minister from Iceland whose name I can't pronounce.
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I find it more interesting that Iceland's crimes against pronunciation are regarded as seriously as the disdain for human life displayed by the Mubaraks and the Qaddafis of the world. And if that's the case, why isn't Wales being prosecuted?
 
Wow.

Just reading about the data-mining task makes my head hurt.

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Good timing, too... with the US elections looming, you could make a sizable dent in the chances of quite a few candidates if they appear on that list. :D
 
It looks like the first victim will be the Icelandic PM. He will face a vote of no confidence today.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty confident that they already have an escape and followup plan.
 
I'm very interested in how Cameron is going to get out of this one regarding Daddies tax dodging....
 
This is no news to me as I was once part of the financial side. Everyone that works in a bank or in a investement company knows about it as well.
 
Haven't read too much into it but...

This is not surprising. It's good to know but the system that makes this happen and allows it to continuie is currupted from above. The people who have the roles and who are in the positions to make a change are the ones feeding off of and exploiting it (and consequently, feeding and exploiting the common person). Tax havens should be made illegal worldwide. It would be a good first step but the problem wouldn't magically disappear.
 
I'd like to say I was shocked when I first saw this yesterday, but... I'm not. Greed is greed and as @Liquid said, the surprise is that someone broke ranks and gave out this information, not the fact that rich people want to stay rich.

Still, should be interesting to see who and/or how they'll wriggle out of this!
 
TenEightyOne
What system do you propose to enforce financial law in every country on Earth?
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I don't know how. I think they should. If I knew I would say it. It might be "impossible" to impose it globally but we can improve a lot. In my country for instance there's a tax haven in the Madeira islands. A good first step would be each country to outaw this tax havens.
 
I'm kind of 'meh' about this - the existence of tax havens is not even an 'open secret'... it's so well known it barely merits a news story to be honest. That said, it will raise serious questions about wrong doing on a nation by nation basis.

In a world where government corruption and financial mismanagement is wide-rife (to paraphrase The Day Today), it is kind of weird that we are supposed to be horrified at the notion of not making your property available for plunder by the government.
 
Touring Mars
I'm kind of 'meh' about this - the existence of tax havens is not even an 'open secret'... it's so well known it barely merits a news story to be honest. That said, it will raise serious questions about wrong doing on a nation by nation basis.

In a world where government corruption and financial mismanagement is wide-rife (to paraphrase The Day Today), it is kind of weird that we are supposed to be horrified at the notion of not making your property available for plunder by the government.
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True... but the meat of the story is in the exposition of public figures who preach against exactly this kind of practice. I guess their hidden wealth is of interest to people too. If it's true that the American files have yet to be released then there could be some interesting reading there too.

Otherwise, yes. Meh :)
 
This law firm could provide stuff enough for half a dozen James Bond movies:
  • 33 companies and people blacklisted by the U.S. government appear in Mossack Fonseca’s files
  • Alleged terrorism and nuclear weapons financiers from the Middle East and North Korea, arms traders and backers of Syria’s barrel bombings found in files
  • Mossack Fonseca employees repeatedly acknowledged failing to properly check blacklisted customers
https://panamapapers.icij.org/20160404-sanctioned-blacklisted-offshore-clients.html
 
...I've been reading the various reactions excuses of the accused from all over the world and some of them are really creative. :lol:

A nephew of current South African president is named in the papers, having duly benefited from an oil deal with DRC and Joseph Kabila. And his excuse? "He's innocent, but the company he's a director of had business relationship (read offshore account) facilitated by Fonseca". Really.

After putting on my tinfoil hat though, I gotta ask, just who blew the whistle? A disgruntled ex-employee? An industrial sabotage orchestrated by a rival firm? A disillusioned former government operative out to settle a score with an evil corproation? I swear, someone better make a movie out this, and do it soon...
 

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