Summary

  • Companies subject to international sanctions helped by Panamanian law firm

  • Credit Suisse and HSBC dismiss claims

  • David Cameron under pressure over tax havens in UK overseas territories

  • Panama a 'stand-out bad guy' in terms of tax haven secrecy

  1. 'The cat's out of the bag'published at 08:26

    Mossack FoncesaImage source, Getty Images

    It appears that Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca - the co-founders of the now notorious Panamanian law firm - tried to do some damage limitation last week by giving an interview to Bloomberg, external

    "The cat’s out of the bag,” Mr Mossack said in a four-hour interview with Blake Schmidt, external. “So now we have to deal with the aftermath.”

    Meanwhile, Mr Fonseca tells the Financial Times, external: “I don’t expect this to lead to one single legal case.”

    He insists that the law firm did not know the identity of its end-clients, particularly in the early days: “It’s like if you buy a car and sell it to a dealership and it sells it to a woman who kills someone - the factory isn’t responsible.”  

    We are not entirely sure how successful their media relations strategy will prove to be.

  2. Sanctioned clients on Panama firm's bookspublished at 08:19 British Summer Time 5 April 2016

    The Panama legal firm at the heart of a massive data leak had client firms which were subject to international sanctions, documents show.

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  3. Right and wrongpublished at 08:14

    Phones4u founder John Caudwell, external has been talking about tax on Today.

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  4. Corbyn calls for action on tax dodgerspublished at 08:07

    Jeremy CorbynImage source, Getty Images

    David Cameron must "stop pussyfooting around" and take action on tax dodgers, Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) will say later today in response to the Panama Papers leak that has seen the Prime Minister dragged into a row about his late father's business affairs. 

    He is expected to say in a speech: "More and more people feel that there is one rule for the rich and another for everyone else. It is time to get tough on tax havens. Britain has a huge responsibility. Many of those tax havens are British overseas territories or Crown dependencies. 

    "As the leaked documents show, tax havens have become honey pots of international corruption, tax avoidance and evasion. They are sucking tax revenues out of our own country and many others fuelling inequality and short-changing our public services and our people." 

  5. 'Shonky' countries help the richpublished at 07:58

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Cayman IslandsImage source, Getty Images

    Geoffrey Robertson QC, the human rights lawyer, tells Today that offshore tax havens allow “vast numbers of wealthy people to hide their wealth”: "A blind eye is being turned which has enabled some firms that are on international sanctions lists to move their money in total secrecy to avoid those sanctions.”

    He says the laws of “rather shonky countries like Panama and little islands allow the very rich to hide and move their wealth and to an extent that it enables them to beat international sanctions it becomes a worry".

    Britain is "at the height of international tax avoidance by allowing these little remnants of empire" to have tax secrecy laws and "enable offshore trusts and offshore companies to operate without transparency”, Mr Roberson adds.

    The problem of sovereignty means "these islands can set up their own regimes" so this is a problem that needs to be resolved internationally.

    He is calling for lawyers to be subject to the same "know your customer" regulations as the banks.

  6. China links revealed in Panama leakpublished at 07:50 British Summer Time 5 April 2016

    Close relatives of seven current or former Chinese leaders have been found to have links to offshore firms in the mass leak of files from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

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  7. US reviewing Panama paperspublished at 07:40

    The United States is reviewing the Panama papers, the Department of Justice has said.

    Spokesman Peter Carr said: "While we cannot comment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the US Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the US financial system." 

    The White House has not made any specific comments about the leaked documents, but said the US has been a leading advocate of for increased transparency in the international financial system.

  8. Q&A: Panama Paperspublished at 07:33 British Summer Time 5 April 2016

    A huge leak of documents has lifted the lid on how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth: what is the scandal about?

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  9. Icelandic PM remains defiantpublished at 07:27

    Protestors outside the parliament building in ReykjavikImage source, Getty Images

    Crowds have gathered outside parliament in Reykjavik calling for the resignation of Iceland's prime minister, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, after details of his family's financial affairs were revealed in the Panama papers. 

    Protest organisers said more than 10,000 people took to the streets - not a bad turnout when you consider the population of the entire country is only 323,000.

    Iceland's opposition has filed a motion of no confidence in Mr Gunnlaugsson that will be debated on Tuesday. However, he has insisted he will not resign.

  10. Prosecutors to probe Mossack Fonesecapublished at 07:19

    Prosecutors in Panama say they will launch a criminal investigation into Mossack Fonseca -- the law firm at the centre of the huge data leak. 

    The latest revelations show that the company had clients who were subject to international sanctions

    The firm worked with 33 individuals or companies which, at some point, were subject to action by the US Treasury. They included companies linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme - and a close relative of Syria's President Assad.

  11. China censors Panama reportspublished at 07:10

    Xi JinpingImage source, Getty Images

    China's online censors and state media outlets are restricting access to reports on hidden wealth drawn from the leaked Panama documents that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping (pictured). 

    Searches for articles on websites and social media postings featuring the words "Panama documents'' could not be opened on Tuesday to view their content, the Associated Press reports. However, some searches for Panama-related news resulted in stories mentioning footballer Lionel Messi and others featured in the documents not related to China. 

    Meanwhile, the nationalistic tabloid Global Times published an editorial saying an unidentified "powerful force'' was behind the document leak. It said the main targets were opponents of the West, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin. The paper made no mention of any involvement by Chinese figures.  

  12. Credit Suisse and HSBC dismiss claimspublished at 07:02
    Breaking

    Tidjane ThiamImage source, Getty Images

    Credit Suisse and HSBC have both dismissed suggestions they were actively using offshore structures to help clients avoid tax. 

    Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Credit Suisse (pictured), which is targeting Asia's wealthiest for growth, said his bank was only after lawful assets. "We as a company, as a bank only encourage the use of structures when there is a legitimate economic purpose," he said.

    Separately, HSBC said the documents pre-dated a thorough reform of its business model. "The allegations are historical, in some cases dating back 20 years, predating our significant, well-publicised reforms implemented over the last few years," said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for HSBC. 

    Both were named in the leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. 

  13. Call for action to save UK steelpublished at 06:54

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Port TalbotImage source, Getty Images

    Gareth Stace, director of UK Steel, the trade association for the UK steel industry, says the government "needs to get the defibrillator out". He points out that the crisis in the steel industry didn't just "start last Tuesday". He says he warned six months ago that without life saving surgery the patient [the UK steel industry] would die.

    He says the UK steel industry is in need of a shock to bring it back to and "give it a healthy future". 

    Many companies warn that they see no difference six months on from crisis talks with the government, Mr Stace says.

    He adds there may be a need for the government to provide "time-limited" state support to the Tata Steel UK and the rest of the sector.

    "We're in a real deep crisis here, and if that means government pushing the boundaries of state aid rules or even going beyond them they should do it and suffer the consequences later because the time for action is now."

  14. Secrecy 'no longer guaranteed'published at 06:42

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Mossack FoncesaImage source, Getty Images

    The latest revelation from Mossack Fonseca shows the Panamanian law firm worked extensively with companies that were subject to international sanctions. The leak also appears to show that HSBC provided financial services to Mossack.

    Barry Vitou, head of corporate crime at lawyers Pinsent Masons, tells Today this is the “new now”. He says secrecy can no longer be guaranteed in light of the latest revelations.

    “The idea that things will be kept under wraps forever cannot be guaranteed when you have hacking going on and these massive data dumps happening,” Mr Vitou says. However, he adds: “You need to draw a very big distinction between illegal conduct and perfectly legal conduct.” 

    Mr Vitou points out it would be “a massive oversimplification” to blame the law firm for the illegal actions of their clients. He adds Mossack Fonseca stopped working for some of its clients that were clearly acting illegally “long before this story broke”.

    Quote Message

    You used a lawyer... you had a right to expect confidentiality and it appears there has been a massive breach of that confidentiality.

    Barry Vitou, Head of corporate crime at Pinsent Masons

  15. The American anglepublished at 06:35

    Charles Martucci, a designer at Twitter in San Francisco, tweets this observation about the Panama leak.

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  16. Cameron under pressurepublished at 06:27

    David CameronImage source, Getty Images

    David Cameron is coming under pressure to take action to stop British oversees territories and Crown dependencies being used by wealthy people trying to reduce their tax bills. 

    The leak of millions of documents from a Panamanian law firm has revealed the rich and powerful globally hiding their wealth offshore on a massive scale. 

    It's emerged that more than half of the 200,000 secret companies set up by the law firm Mossack Fonseca were registered in the British Virgin Islands. 

    In a speech later today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will tell the prime minister to "stop pussyfooting around" and make sure the richest pay their way.  

  17. Coming up on Todaypublished at 06:22 British Summer Time 5 April 2016

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

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  18. Those offshore firms in fullpublished at 06:16

    The news agency AFP has done a handy graphic outlining the offshore firms created by Mossack Fonseca.

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  19. 'Stand-out bad guy'published at 06:09

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Tax lawyer Jo Maugham QC, external has been on Wake Up to Money to talk about the Panama papers. He says there is no such thing as a good tax haven – there is no need for companies to use them other than to pay less tax than their home jurisdiction. 

    "Panama is a real stand-out bad guy – it's a uniquely ugly place to site your assets and has a poor ethical culture," he says. The leak means we will now get to see "underneath the veil".

    More from Mr Maugham on Panama on his blog here, external.

  20. Good morningpublished at 06:01

    Chris Johnston
    Business reporter

    Welcome to another day on Business Live - more fallout from the Panama papers today plus a smattering of corporate results, including numbers from Walgreeen Boots Alliance and Moss Bros. Thanks for joining us.