Panama Papers Leaked
11.5 million documents from Mossack Fonseca exposing global financial secrecy were published
April 03, 2016
The Biggest Leak in Financial History
On April 3, 2016, a global team of journalists published the Panama Papers — 11.5 million confidential documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca. The documents revealed how wealthy individuals, politicians, and corporations used offshore shell companies to hide money, avoid taxes, and in some cases, launder funds from illegal activities. The leak came from an anonymous source who contacted a German newspaper in 2015.
Who Was Named and What Happened
The documents implicated over 140 politicians and public officials from more than 50 countries, including heads of state, their relatives, and close associates. Iceland's Prime Minister resigned within days of the release. Investigations were launched in dozens of countries. Banks were fined billions of dollars for helping clients set up secret accounts. The revelations confirmed what many had long suspected — that a shadow financial system existed to serve the ultra-wealthy.
A Turning Point for Financial Transparency
The Panama Papers led to major reforms in how countries track and share financial information. The OECD expanded its automatic information-sharing agreements between governments. The European Union tightened its anti-money-laundering rules. Several countries created public registers of who actually owns shell companies. The leak demonstrated the power of collaborative investigative journalism — over 370 reporters from 76 countries worked together on the project. Use our date calculator to see how long ago the papers were released.