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The '''Panama Papers''' disclose the activities of the [[Panama]]nian corporate service provider [[Mossack Fonseca]],  which arranged tax avoidance schemes for citizens from a variety of countries.  The papers are a leaked set of 11.5 million [[confidentiality|confidential]] documents that provide detailed information about more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors of the companies.

[[File:Countries implicated in the Panama Papers.png|thumb|right|Map shows the countries implicated by the Panama Papers.]]The '''Panama Papers''' disclose the activities of the [[Panama]]nian corporate service provider [[Mossack Fonseca]],  which arranged tax avoidance schemes for citizens from a variety of countries.  The papers are a leaked set of 11.5 million [[confidentiality|confidential]] documents that provide detailed information about more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors of the companies.

The documents show steps taken by wealthy individuals, including public officials, to hide their money from public scrutiny. At the time of publication, the papers identified five government leaders from [[Argentina]], [[Iceland]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Ukraine]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]]; as well as government officials, close relatives, and close associates of various heads of government of more than forty other countries. Half of the companies exposed were based in the [[British Virgin Islands]].  [[Hong Kong]] contained the most affiliated banks, law firms and middlemen.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/panama-papers-david-cameron-uk-tax-avoidance-tax-havens-overseas-territories-a6968791.html|title=David Cameron urged to act on Panama Papers as UK named 'at heart of super-rich tax-avoidance network'|last=|first=|date=April 5, 2016|newspaper=The Independent|language=en-GB|accessdate=April 7, 2016|deadurl=no|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160404224929/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/panama-papers-david-cameron-uk-tax-avoidance-tax-havens-overseas-territories-a6968791.html|archive-date=April 4, 2010}}</ref>

The documents show steps taken by wealthy individuals, including public officials, to hide their money from public scrutiny. At the time of publication, the papers identified five government leaders from [[Argentina]], [[Iceland]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Ukraine]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]]; as well as government officials, close relatives, and close associates of various heads of government of more than forty other countries. Half of the companies exposed were based in the [[British Virgin Islands]].  [[Hong Kong]] contained the most affiliated banks, law firms and middlemen.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/panama-papers-david-cameron-uk-tax-avoidance-tax-havens-overseas-territories-a6968791.html|title=David Cameron urged to act on Panama Papers as UK named 'at heart of super-rich tax-avoidance network'|last=|first=|date=April 5, 2016|newspaper=The Independent|language=en-GB|accessdate=April 7, 2016|deadurl=no|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160404224929/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/panama-papers-david-cameron-uk-tax-avoidance-tax-havens-overseas-territories-a6968791.html|archive-date=April 4, 2010}}</ref>