The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) announced that on May 9, it will release selected data purported to be leaked or stolen from the internal records of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. ICIJ plans to release this selected data in a searchable database. The release is expected to cover 200,000 companies and other organizations organized under 21 jurisdictions across the globe which are widely considered to be tax havens. These jurisdictions include Hong Kong, Nevada, Switzerland, Singapore, Panama and the Cayman Islands. The selected data is also expected to identify people associated with these companies and organizations, who reportedly live in more than 200 countries and territories.
Once the searchable database is made available, users will be able to search for particular companies, organizations and individuals. The ICIJ has said they will not include sensitive personal information in the database, such as passports and telephone numbers.
Our earlier post on the Panama Papers is available here.