Image source, AP

What makes Panama different from other low-tax jurisdictions and how did it become this way?

BBC Monitoring
Miami

Brazil's Federal Public Ministry has begun a process to ask Panama for access to evidence obtained about the Mossack Fonseca law firm, responsible for the creation of offshore accounts, the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reports.

For information to be valid as evidence under the Brazilian justice system, it has to be sent to the country by the Panamanian authorities.

However, the information has not yet been delivered to Panamanian justice officials.

"We will ask the Panamanian Public Ministry to send us the information related to Brazilian citizens and other people with dual citizenship," said district attorney Vladimir Aras.

There is one country where the Panama Papers are not known by that name - yes, Panama.

While the term #PanamaPapers is the most-searched term online across the world for this story, below is the term that is trending in Panama instead (albeit misspelled):

Image source, Twitter

There's a bit of a campaign under way among Twitter users there to try to disassociate Panama from the scandal and name it after the law firm involved, Mossack Fonseca, instead.

It's fair to say it is not a trend that has spread elsewhere.

The World Tonight

The Panama Papers tax scandal has all the elements of a spy story. A year-long investigation began when the German newspaper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, received information from a source, known only as John Doe.

The paper shared 11.5 million documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The journalist in charge of the whole operation, Stefan Kornelius, tells Paul Moss how hundreds of journalists "kept quiet" about the biggest leak in history.  

Image source, Getty Images

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, who is coming under pressure to resign after his name emerged in the Panama Papers leak, has seen a request to dissolve parliament rebuffed.

The country's president says he must first speak to Mr Gunnlagusson's coalition partners before making such a decision.

If parliament is dissolved, one party in particular could stand to benefit - Iceland's Pirate Party.

A poll conducted only four days ago by Iceland's leading broadcaster showed that the party, that stands for civil rights and internet freedom, would take more votes than the two current coalition partners combined, external.

Image source, Getty Images

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said he does not own any shares or have any offshore funds, after his late father was included in a leaked list of clients using a law firm in the tax haven of Panama.

Mr Cameron's father has been reported to have run a network of offshore investment funds, and when asked on Monday to confirm that no family money was still invested in the funds, Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said it was a "private matter".

Image source, Getty Images

Argentinian president Mauricio Macri's office has confirmed he is linked to a second offshore firm registered by his father.

Mr Macri was vice-president and director, his father Franco was president and his brother Gianfranco was secretary of Kagemusha, which was registered in 1981.

"The society was created in 1981, but it was sold some years later," the government said.

Image source, Getty Images

French finance minister Michel Sapin has said Panama will go back on France's blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions.

"Panama is a country that wanted us to believe that it could respect the main international tax principles and thus it was taken off the tax haven blacklist," he said.

Panama's authorities are conducting their own investigations into Mossack Fonseca's business practices.

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson has asked President Olafur Grimsson to dissolve parliament, the Reuters news agency reports.

However, news agency AFP and Icelandic media say the president has so far declined.

Mr Grimsson said he had asked for talks with the main parties before making a decision.

You can read more about that here.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to millions of leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm, including David Cameron's family.

Image source, Vox

This may well be our favourite Panama papers explainer, external so far, courtesy of Vox.com, external... 

A government spokesman hit back has hit back at Jeremy Corbyn's call for a crackdown on tax havens.

The government has pointed out that there were more than 40 changes to the tax law in the last parliament that closed loopholes and introduced major reforms. 

Those measures were forecast to raise more than £12bn by the end of this tax year.

A further 25 reforms are planned in this parliament to tackle avoidance, evasion and aggressive tax planning. 

Downing Street also claims it has brought in more than £2bn from offshore tax evaders since 2010. 

Iceland's prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, said he would dissolve parliament and call an election if he did not win the backing of coalition partner the Independence Party to remain in office. 

Pressure has been mounting on Mr Gunnlaughsson to resign after leaked documents showed his wife owned an offshore company with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks. He spent the morning in talks with finance minister and Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson. 

The opposition filed a motion of no-confidence in the prime minister on Monday and thousands of protesters gathered outside parliament calling for him to quit. Another demonstration is planned for later on Tuesday. 

Image source, EPA

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of all Britons linked to the Panama papers, including prime minister David Cameron's family.

"It's a private matter in so far as it's a privately held interest, but it's not a private matter if tax has not been paid. So an investigation must take place - an independent investigation," he said. 

Mr Corbyn called on the government to tackle tax havens, saying it was time the PM stopped allowing the "super-rich elite to dodge their taxes". 

Image source, AP

HSBC and Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse set up more than 4,500 offshore companies through the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, Le Monde reports. HSBC created 2,300 offshore companies, Credit Suisse had 1,105 and UBS had 1,100, while France's Societe Generale had 979, according to the Panama papers. 

Some 365 banks had used the services of Mossack Fonseca, including Deutsche Bank and Sweden's Nordea, according to Le Monde. 

Nordea chief executive Casper von Koskull (pictured) said: "We will not cooperate with Mossack Fonseca any longer. Absolutely not. The bank should not be used as a platform for tax evasion." 

BBC Monitoring

Several Russian commentators see the Panama leaks as an attack on their country. Andrei Sidorov of Moscow State University is quoted in the business daily Vedomosti, external as saying the leaks target not only President Vladimir Putin, but the entire country: "The main goal of this campaign is to rock the boat inside Russia and to change the regime."

According to the vice-president at the Centre for Political Technologies, Alexei Makarkin Moskovsky, the leaks will not have a noticeable impact on Russia. "The siege mentality effect is still very strong in Russia , and largely defines the public reaction to any external criticism."

Money Box presenter Paul Lewis tweets:

BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Most Algerian media outlets have highlighted the naming of the industry and mines minister, Abdesslam Bouchouareb (pictured), in the Panama papers.

The headline on El Watan's website, external says: "Panama Papers: Abdslam Bouchouareb owns an offshore company" and the article carries a cartoon depicting  the minister. The news website TSA says the revelations "gravely implicate" the minister.

The book "Paris-Algiers", published last year, says Mr Bouchouareb holds substantial property assets in France. The former business executive said in response to the book that he had lived in France for many years and had accumulated his wealth before being elected.

The Panama Papers are the latest in a long line of leaks that have had political repercussions across the globe.