According to the BBC News from 18:00 GMT yesterday the database for the Panama Papers became accessible at offshoreleaks.icij.org. Using this link you can now search by country or by name this massive dataleak, have fun!
Last week Mossack Fonseca issued a “cease and desist ” order to prevent the database being made public but the organisation that has the documents, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), went ahead, says the BBC News
The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of some 2.6 terabytes of information or 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records were obtained from an anonymous source called John Doe and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them with a large network of international partners.
The Panama Papers reveal the murky and sometimes shadowy ways in which the rich and criminally minded can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes.
“Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world now known to have been using offshore tax havens and it shows how how some wealthy people use offshore firms to evade tax and avoid sanctions,” says the ICIJ
About three years ago I began talking in our TIDES of Change presentation how I predicted that two trends have the greatest threat to future global prosperity: Growing Inequality and the falling levels of productivity and investments in innovations that take the world to a higher level. These trends prompted me to write the book Quest: Competitive Advantage and the Art of Leadership in the 21st Century as I wanted to inspire leaders to make the difference. The Panama Papers reveals on a global scale just how disruptive these two trends, which often work in conjunction, are, because money hidden offshore is no longer available for taxation and investment in meaningful innovations.
The Panama Papers is an excellent example of what I call the Power of the Quest: Today because of unprecedented access to mobile and disruptive technology; the democratisation of information; and, the power of social media; anyone anywhere can do their small bit or (as in the case of John Doe – gender not revealed – and the Panama Papers) their big bit, to change the world.