PANAMA PAPERS

A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how wealthy and powerful
people use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked
from one of the most secretive companies in the world, Panamanian law firm
Mossack Fonseca. These documents show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients
launder money, evade taxes and avoid sanctions. The company says it has operated
flawlessly for 40 years and never has been accused of criminal activities. The
company is considered one of the five largest providers of offshore secret
worldwide. It has more than 500 employees and contributors in over 40 offices
around the world, including three in Switzerland and eight in China.
Leaked documents have shaken the banking and legal sectors of Panama, as well as
the foundations of the economy and this has brought about an investigation into the
legal and financial sectors and the negative news that the Latin American country is
placed back in the blacklist of tax havens after trying to get rid of the reputation as
a safe place for illicit business of corrupt and criminal activities.
But this leak has also had an impact worldwide because this information was made
public in violation of the strict confidentiality of the owners of offshore accounts who
are leading politicians and celebrities, this brought a great scandal and now these
characters are objective research to know the origin of financial transactions
conducted and whether these are legal or not. It is noteworthy that the fact of
having business relationships or hire consulting with a Panamanian law firm, not in
itself a crime, it all depends on what exactly was done, many people who seek to
violate the law have often enjoyed the same discretion that those who have
accounts for legitimate purposes. (Phillips, 2016)
Mossack Fonseca has tried to justify itself to this situation by saying that they are
engaged to form legal structures and then sell them to middlemen and they have
customers with whom the company does not maintain any relationship, the way
how to handle these structures or make them is not responsibility.

The giant offshore financial records filtration exposed a global network of crime and
corruption involving 140 politicians from 50 countries, 100 media in 78 countries
and 11.5 million documents in tax havens. Proceso magazine and Aristegui News
were the only Mexican media convened by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The filtered records were reviewed by a team of more
than 370 journalists from 78 countries.
The names mentioned after the analysis of documents ranging from international
athletes like Lionel Messi, sports officials as Michel Platini, the Spanish film director
Pedro Almodvar; Mexican businessmen Ricardo Salinas Pliego and Juan Armando
Hinojosa (better known as the contractor of the famous White House); actor Jackie
Chan; the presidents of Argentina Mauricio Macri and Russia Vladimir Putin; ex
Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. In addition to 33

individuals and companies put on the blacklist of the US government for having
done business with Mexican drug lords and terrorist organizations such as Hezbol.
(Harding, 2016)
This collaboration between journalists has been the largest ever produced, in which
corporate records, property records, financial statements and court documents were
screened, among other sources. Sddeutsche Zeitung reporters obtained million
records from a confidential source and shared with ICIJ. The media involved did not
pay for the documents.
Vladimir Putin MAIN INVOLVED: Although the name of the Russian president does
not appear in the documents, according to the analysis of the data, the friends of
the president, recipients of public procurement and concessions that would not have
been possible without his protection, established a network of companies offshore
(which the holders are hidden) by approximately $ 2000 million (1,760 million
euros). Among the relatives of the Russian president highlighted the name of Sergei
Roldugin, his best friend, who introduced him to his wife and godfather of his eldest
daughter. The choice of this person seems evident: the highest confidence of Putin
without strong economic profile is a professional musician and has hardly been
involved in business activities. The Russian government has accused ICIJ launching
a "misleading information attack". (Curwen, 2016)
-Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson: The Icelandic prime minister and his wife used an
offshore firm -Wintris Inc.- to hide millions of dollars in investments in three large
banks during the financial crisis. Involved, head of the Icelandic government since
mid-2013, has denied any wrongdoing. This week will face a question of
parliamentary confidence.
-Mauricio Macri: The Argentine president took part, along with his father and one of
his brothers, the board of directors of an offshore company based in Bahamas called
Fleg Trading. The firm was active until 2009, when Macri occupied the headquarters
of the Government of Buenos Aires, but it is unknown whether the current president
of Argentina had already left office before. The president has come out of the
information to ensure that never participated in the capital of Fleg Trading. "This
company was linked to the family business group, hence Mr. Macri was occasionally
appointed as a director," Argentina has clarified the presidency in a note.
-Salman bin Abdulaziz: The king of Saudi Arabia used a partnership with tax based
in the British Virgin Islands-a territory that Spain is listed as a fiscal paradise to
constitute two mortgages luxury housing in central London. The documentation is
also listed as a user of a yacht registered in the British overseas territory.
Leo Messi: Barcelona FC's player used a Uruguayan firm to gain a Panamanian
company with which would have checked their copy rights -a behind the Tributaria
Agency- since July 13, 2013, one day after the Prosecutor lodge a complaint against
the player for alleged fraud.
-Michel Platini: The former president of UEFA, suspended from office for alleged links
to a corruption case, listed as the owner and sole director of Balney Enterprises, an

opaque society created in Panama few months after his nomination as head of the
agency European football. According to Platini he leaned papers in the office
Mossack Fonseca to manage the company. Ex French soccer player lawyers have
indicated in a note that "all accounts and assets" of Platini "are known to the Swiss
tax authorities, a country that is tax resident since 2007".
-Ivan Zamorano: Ex Real Madrid soccer player and the Chilean national team is one
of the illustrious names in the world of football that is dotted by Panama papers.
Specifically, the leaked documents linked to a society Zamorano, Fut Bam
International, which managed their rights-an image of the main items of high levela player from the British Virgin Islands.
The Film director, Pedro Almodvar and his brother and producer Agustin were
parents, since June 1991, the company Glen Valley Corporation also registered in
the British Virgin Islands. The firm remained active since March 22, 1991 until
November 11, 1994 and its processing was handled from the office of the
Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca in Geneva (Switzerland).
Jackie Chan, The Hong Kong-born actor figure in the roles of Panama shareholder of
six companies based in the British Virgin Islands.
Ricardo Salinas Pliego hired a financial services firm with operations in the Isle of
Man and Gibraltar since 2004 when facing a fraud investigation in the US. 1.15
billion dollars in art and antiques on behalf of the company in the British Virgin
Islands. (BBC MUNDO, 2016)
Mossack Fonseca denies all the accusations saying that have operated successfully
for the past 40 years and have never been accused of criminal activities.
As a result, the Government of Panama reaffirmed the commitment to strengthen
transparency in its legal services and announced to open an official investigation.
France: The far-right family Le Pen has been the most peppered, because Frdric
Chatillon and Nicolas Crochet, two of the defendants last year for illegal financing of
the National Front for the 2012 campaign, hid funds in offshore centers in Asia and
the Caribbean. The scandal joins the research is performed in Jean Marie Le Pen for
possible money laundering and tax evasion of 2.2 million euros.

Morocco: King Mohamed VI appears in the papers by his personal secretary, Mounir
Majidi, president of the business group Siger, owned by the royal family. By
companies in the British Virgin Islands, they bought the actual sailboat Al Boughaz
and a Parisian hotel for 36 million euros. The controversy lies in the silence of the
official press.

China: one third of the companies are managed by Mossack Fonseca Hong Kong and
mainland China. the names of the relatives of the Chinese regime's elites, including
President Xi Jinping, members of the Communist Party and to the husband of one of

the granddaughters of Mao Zedong, Chen Dongsheng filtered. All accounts in the
British Virgin Islands.
Uefa-Fifa: The Swiss prosecutor entered the headquarters of the Uefa to request
documents on contracts for the sale of television rights to the Champions League in
Ecuador, in 2006, the company Cross Trading, based in Nieu, a tax haven. In
addition, the authorities claimed that these serve for investigation for corruption in
the Conmebol. Fifa president Gianni Infantino signed these contracts.

One of the the heads of state named in the investigation was the president of
Argentina, Mauricio Macri. Macri was denounced for alleged involvement in offshore
companies in Bahamas Fleg Trading LTD and Kagemusha of Panama.The justice
department of Argentina asks for certified copy of the statutes of Fleg Trading and
affidavits of Francisco Macri "related to Fleg Trading" between 1998 and 2005. And
through the Financial Information Unit (FIU) ordered that information obtained
whether there are reports of suspicious transactions in Panama, Bahamas, Uruguay,
Brazil and the United Kingdom of Fleg Trading LTD, Kagemus, Foxchase Trading SA,
Sideco Americana SA, Global Collection Services Do Brasil Participacoes Owners,
Gresoni Investment Group SA and Macri.

On the other hand, Argentina's Telam news agency said in a statement from the
family of the late former President Nestor Kirchner and former president Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner that: "Given the global turmoil in which unfortunately is
included our country with leaks called Panama Papers on money laundering and tax
evasion in the tax haven of Panama, unveiled by the International Consortium of
Journalists (ICIJ, in English) and the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the
Kirchner family does not figure in any investigation of this unfortunate scam in
which the country is discredited. " He adds: "We reiterate, the Kirchner family does
not own any account, no society, no good whatsoever on the outside and at the
time we decided to buy one, would appear as befits the DDJJ of AFIP, Anticorruption
Office and other relevant agencies because, as always Nestor said, speak and act
against the Argentine people.

Another linked to the leaked documents is the president of Pearol team of

Uruguay, Juan Pedro Damiani, who is also subject to an investigation related to the
Ethics Committee of FIFA, gave statements to the channel Uruguayan television VTV
and described the issue as " ridiculous". Asked by a journalist before entering the
stadium to watch a game, he said: "I am complainant and defendant. As you may
recall Pearol was the first big team who denounced irregularities in the CONMEBOL,
that was in December 2013. In February 2014 we sent a letter to FIFA asking to
investigate what for us were certain irregularities in the CONMEBOL. A year and a
half before it jumped the whole issue. It's quite unusual. "

There are some documents like the Tax Administration Service (SAT) of Mexico, also
expressed through a statement that "the Tax Authority of Mexico acts in all cases
under the observance of laws and agreements international in matter "and added
that" wing relation recent publication of news reporting on the use of structures or
companies incorporated in countries known as tax havens, the tax Administration
service of Mexico will open review in cases where it is appropriate, to taxpayers
referred for nationals or companies with tax obligations in Mexico ".
Previously, as you will recall, were the famous Wikileaks, cables related to the US
State Department and its embassies around the world. These were revealed by the
mainstream press in late 2010, curiously a couple of weeks before he fell dead
Mohamed Bouazizi, whose death would trigger what would be called as the "Arab
Spring".
It draws much attention the relationship that these "revelations" like to have with
the big Western media and the role they have been performing. For example:
Wikileaks revelations played an active role in the "Arab Spring" should not forget
that along with cyber attacks "Anonymous" defenders of Wikileaks. We must not
forget that the spread of those cables, through the mainstream media, partly
contributed to the destabilization of the Middle East and North Africa.
this relationship takes place again today documents-mainstream media, and as
happened with Wikileaks cables, chances are that every so often we meet many
more "revelations". As if a Pandora's box.
All we know is that the information was obtained from an anonymous, progressive
and free source for more than one year, or a rough year for the German newspaper
Sueddeutsche Zeitung and to process so large amount of information was shared
benevolently with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - ICIJ), created in 1997 by
initiative of the Center for Public Integrity.
The message you are sending the matter "Panama papers" is that the funds are no
longer safe havens like Panama in tax, the great scapegoat. So big capital could be
forced to move their assets to safer and less restrictions. (Deloitte, 2016)
Now the question is where. This is the good and interesting part that we must pay
close attention. Earlier this year (January 27) the famous financial information
company Bloomberg published an interesting article by Jesse Drucker, investigative
journalist, in which he emphasized that the United States was becoming the
"favorite tax haven of the great fortunes ". According to the article, the director of
Rothschild & Co, Andrew Penney, advising big capital to move their fortunes to the
United States because it had become the "best option".
And indeed, there are firms and service providers in tax havens that are already
moving their customers to the US, he says. But why America? Because it simply is
not willing to conform to the new regulations of the OECD signed in 2014 (CRS or
Standard Common Information), which seeks to increase control measures and
transparency for bank accounts deposited abroad. The article notes, and much

attention here: "The signing (Rothschild & Co) said that his landing in Reno (USA) in
the interest of families around the world for the stability of the US".
The role of journalism as a tool for activism in support of the task of whistleblowers
-who also deserve protection legally, is relevant. Although any journalism is no
longer enough. The size of the leak appears to be increasing and something similar
happens with the demands of readers: better visualizations, more interactivity,
multi-platform storytelling ... That is why journalism should be updated, reinvented;
and it is easier and more effective when, as in this case, work is coral, cooperative
and coordinated. The profound impact they are having the "Panama Papers" is also
irreversible.
It has already caused the resignation of Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, former
Prime Minister of Iceland and young promise of the new national policy, allocation of
newly elected Argentine president, the publication of tax details of David Cameron
and the resignation of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Soria ... And it promises to be
more sequels thus far, it is only revealed half of the documents. This research is
putting faces and names to a reality we already knew: the legal fragility of tax
havens and their consequences on the economy and politics.
Years ago, the French economist Gabriel Zucman, author of a study entitled Taxing
across Borders: Tracking Personal Wealth and Corporate Profits, noted that the
hidden wealth by individuals in tax havens in the world amounts to $ 7.6 trillion-a a
figure that is higher than the GDP of Germany and the United Kingdom. This
uncontrolled capital flight causes huge revenue losses to the national tax systems,
harming obviously mechanisms redistribution of wealth and increasing consequently
inequality. In addition, a large number of political leaders are involved in research
aggravates the global phenomenon of mistrust (the Government study at a Glance
2015 OECD showed that confidence in government fell by more than three
percentage points in recent years) .
The financial opacity of these representatives contradicts the practically universal
demand for transparency. And the double standards of those who say one thing but
do another, ends its credibility and minimizes their "capital trust". The investigation
of the "Panama Papers" calls into question the moral of our representatives, their
necessary ejemplaridad, understood as the coherence between what we think, what
is said and what is done. The Spanish philosopher Javier Gom Lanzon, in his essay
Public Ejemplaridad, showed that ejemplaridad has become "a fundamental political
category" and an inescapable public demand. The transition from private morality
to public morality, ie, ethics policy, is one of the challenges of our time. The lesson
of the "Panama Papers" should not be the need for more regulation and
transparency, and not only that, but the requirement of political ethics to serve the
common good. (Phillips, 2016)
Although not all who have been exposed in this scandal are evaders or incurred in
illegal or improper acts, authorities in each country have announced they will
investigate the above, although it is known that they can not use as evidence the
data uncovered, for there They were obtained legally. The government of Panama
declared outraged and attacked. President Juan Carlos Varela said he will defend

strongly the international image of the country and warned that have been making
major reforms to "make every time more solid and transparent financial and legal
services, Panama". The concern in the isthmus is no wonder. After the business
generated by the canal, the most important industry in Panama is financial. And yet
nobody knows what will be the epilogue of this scandal in the flight of capital from
that country. (Salza, 2016)

Bibliografa
BBC MUNDO. (4 de 5 de 2016). Economia Internaiconal: Impacto de los Panama
Papers. UK: BBC.
Curwen, E. (4 de 14 de 2016). Despues de los Panama Papers: Consecuencias . UK:
BBC MUNDO.
Deloitte. (8 de 5 de 2016). In the wake of the Panama Papers. USA: Deloitte.
Harding, L. (4 de 7 de 2016). Panama Papers: A review. USA: The Guardian Open
Journal.
Phillips, K. (9 de 8 de 2016). What are the Panama Papers. USA: Forbes Magazine.
Salza, C. (14 de 5 de 2016). Base de Datos de Panama Papers. Panama: CNET.