Pandora's Papers Secrets!

The Pandora papers are the largest collection of leaked data shedding light on the financial secrets of some of the world’s richest people. The files were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which shared access with The Guardian, the BBC and other media outlets around the world.

The Pandora Papers reveal the most secretive tax haven in history. They provide a rare window into the hidden world of offshore finance, shedding light on the financial secrets of some of the world’s richest people.
The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as more than 100 business leaders, billionaires, and celebrities.
The files were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which shared access with The Guardian, the BBC and other media outlets around the world. In total, the trove consists of 11.9 million files leaked from a total of 14 offshore providers, totaling 2.94 terabytes of information. This makes it larger in size than both the Panama Papers (2016) and the Paradise Papers (2017), two previous offshore leaks.

Where did the Pandora Papers come from?

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Washington, D.C., has not identified the source of the leaked documents. To facilitate a global investigation, the ICJ provided remote access to the documents to journalists in 117 countries, including reporters at the Washington Post, Le Monde, El Pais, Süddeutsche Zeitung, PBS Frontline, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In the United Kingdom, the investigation was led by The Guardian and BBC Panorama.

What is an external service provider?

The 14 offshore service providers in the leak offer corporate services to individuals or companies looking to do business overseas. Their clients typically seek to discreetly set up companies or trusts in lightly regulated tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Panama, the Cook Islands, and the US state of South Dakota. Offshore companies can be used to hold assets such as property, aircraft, yachts, and investments in stocks and shares. By holding these assets in an offshore company, it is possible to hide the identity of the person they actually belong to, or the “beneficial owner,” from the rest of the world.

Why do people move money abroad?

Usually for tax, secrecy, or regulatory reasons. Offshore jurisdictions tend not to impose income or corporate taxes, making them attractive to wealthy individuals and corporations who do not wish to pay taxes in their home countries. While this type of tax evasion is ethically questionable, it can be legal. Offshore jurisdictions also tend to be highly secretive and publish little or no information about companies or trusts established there. This can make them useful to criminals, such as tax evaders or money launderers, who need to hide money from tax or law enforcement authorities. It is also true that individuals in corrupt or unstable countries may use offshore service providers to place their assets beyond the reach of repressive governments or criminal adversaries who might try to seize them, or to seek to circumvent hard currency restrictions. Others may go abroad for inheritance or estate planning reasons.

Did everyone in the Pandora Papers do something wrong?

No. Moving money offshore is not in itself illegal, and there are legitimate reasons why some people do it. Not everyone named in the Pandora Papers is suspected of wrongdoing. Those who are may be accused of a wide range of misconduct: from the ethically questionable to the potentially criminal. The Guardian only publishes stories based on leaked documents in the public interest. This is a broad concept that may include promoting transparency by revealing the secret owners of UK offshore assets, even when those owners have done nothing wrong. Other articles may highlight issues of important public controversy, raise ethical questions, shed light on how the offshore industry works, or help inform voters about politicians or donors in the interest of democratic accountability.

Source: The Guardian