Panama Papers

[nol]

I was surprised to see nothing here on this yet. Iceland's prime minister just resigned due to the fallout the day after saying he was going to remain in office.

This all comes from a massive leak from Panamanian offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca. Numerous heads of state, including Vladimir Putin, David Cameron, Xi Jinping, and the now-resigned Icelandic prime minister, have been implicated as owners or beneficiaries in heretofore unknown offshore corporations.

Now, one can move large amounts of money offshore for legitimate reasons (just as one can buy a massive Bob Marley-themed bong for the purposes of smoking tobacco), but at the very least the many of the names from the documents will be investigated for tax evasion or failing to disclose conflicts of interest, and more will likely come out as teams of journalists continue to investigate the documents.

Maybe not as much of an American story because it's easy enough to dodge paying taxes here without having to go offshore.

Panama Papers

[cartman]

There are several Americans in the docs that are already either in jail or under indictment for tax fraud.

[RainMaker]

Seems like this might take awhile to sort through. There is so much data.

Putin and his cronies don't look good in them.

[NobodyHere]

And yet this is supposedly just one of many firms that offer such services

[cuervo72]

I am shocked that strongmen, dictators, and shady third-world politicians (oh, and FIFA members) would be involved in something untoward. SHOCKED.

[digamma]

+1

I mean, the size of some of the accounts is rather astounding, but the fact they exist...nah.

[bhlloy]

So yeah, the new FIFA president who was oh so squeaky clean despite growing up in a tiny village a couple of miles away from the tiny village that the previous corrupt as hell president grew up in... is already linked directly to two of these guys. Awesome

[Suicane75]

Is my name in there? Like one of those "you may have money coming to you and don't even know it", kind of thing?

[vex]

I've played Tropico, none of this surprises me.

[nol]

Originally Posted by digamma

+1

I mean, the size of some of the accounts is rather astounding, but the fact they exist...nah.

That and how some of these politicians (including the leader of 'third-world' UK) have talked a big game about increasing financial transparency and cracking down on tax havens.

Originally Posted by cartman

There are several Americans in the docs that are already either in jail or under indictment for tax fraud.

Yes, the ones who had to keep money in Panama despite how easy it is to do the same thing by setting up an LLC in, say, Delaware are not going to be the brightest criminals America has to offer.

[stevew]

Will be interesting to see what's in there pertaining to the US. I secretly hope Hillary is freaking out inside cause I'm sure a few of her bagmen will be in there.

[Dutch]

Or Trump....nah, that won't deny him.

[albionmoonlight]

This does nothing to disabuse me of my idea that the entire UK is basically one long-running Monty Python skit.

CNBC Now on Twitter: "Moments Ago: Chaos in UK Parliament after MP calls PM Cameron "dodgy Dave" and is kicked out https://t.co/o7gLJoPTtc
https://t.co/kwhakUzV3I"