It’s a big day for ICIJ and press freedom around the world. Today, we’re publishing the final installment of Pandora Papers data to the Offshore Leaks database.
This release includes information on more than 9,000 companies, trusts and foundations from seven offshore providers headquartered in Hong Kong, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Switzerland and Dubai.
In total, the database now boasts information on more than three-quarters of a million people and companies behind secret offshore structures with links to more than 200 countries and territories, spanning five different major leaks.
It’s been a long journey for our team to get here. The Offshore Leaks Database was launched nine years ago in a bold and groundbreaking decision to share information from Secrecy for Sale, ICIJ’s first-ever investigation on tax havens. The idea was to extract essential details and create interactive features to allow users to easily draw connections in data that was verified, structured into standardized fields, and searchable. It was a technically complex and legally risky undertaking for ICIJ, a tiny news organization at the time.
We talk to the people who made it happen and ICIJ team members who have taken on the challenge, and considerable costs, of keeping the database alive since, as it’s become an essential tool in the global fight to dismantle offshore secrecy.
Stay tuned for more resources on how to use and navigate the Offshore Leaks Database yourself. ICIJ is publishing this information in the public interest. We’re thrilled to make this data freely available to all on World Press Freedom Day.
COVERING CARNAGE AND CHAOS
Also in honor of World Press Freedom Day, we talk to two of our Ukrainian partners valiantly reporting on the frontlines of the invasion of their country about how their lives and work have been upended during the war with Russia.
JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF PUTIN
In a new episode of the Meet the Investigators podcast, we interview Russian journalist Roman Anin, founder of the groundbreaking news outlet IStories, which was labeled an “undesirable organization” by the Kremlin for its dogged reporting critical of Vladimir Putin and his allies. Roman tells us about his journey to becoming one of the most fearless investigative reporters covering Russia today.
PANDORA PAPERS RUSSIA
Since the invasion of Ukraine, ICIJ’s global media partners have used the Pandora Papers, FinCEN Files, Paradise and Panama Papers to uncover more financial secrets of Russian elites. Here is a collection of their stories, spanning multiple continents and languages.
JOURNALISM AWARDS
ICIJ’s Pandora Papers investigation has been honored with a series of major accolades in recent weeks, including the National Headliner Award, an Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media, the Overseas Press Club of America’s Malcolm Forbes Award, and the Katharine Graham Award for courage and accountability, which our team accepted at the White House Correspondents Dinner last weekend.
RATBOOK.COM
In a follow-up to our reporting with the Irish Times on the recently sanctioned Kinahan drug cartel, the Panama Papers reveals the secret offshore activities of a senior “enforcer” in the gang that coincided with a turning point in a European anti-drug-trafficking campaign.
FINCEN MISSES DEADLINES
The U.S. Treasury is behind on creating a beneficial ownership database, a key feature of major anti-money laundering reforms enacted more than a year ago. The agency’s acting director says inadequate funding is to blame.
Thanks for reading!
Asraa Mustufa
ICIJ's digital editor
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