The leak of over eleven million documents from Panama firm Mossack Fonseca, nicknamed by media as the 'Panama Papers', has left the once secretive dealings of a firm tasked with helping wealthy individuals launder money, sidestep taxation and dodge sanctions and regulations lain bare for public scrutiny. Mossack Fonseca has reportedly operated without charges of criminal wrongdoing or any formal reproach for the last 40 years, with the leaked documents spanning as much time. The leak, for which the source is still unknown, is one of the most prolific breaches of a firm's data security in history.
Big names
At least 143 politicians and their families or close associates are reportedly among those individuals who have been using shell companies to hide wealth, including 12 national leaders. Among them are Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson, as well as relatives of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A suspected billion-dollar money laundering ring has also been uncovered involving close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
International firms
Several international firms have been named in the Panama Papers. Simmons & Simmons is cited in a document from 2006 as legal adviser to investment fund Blairmore Holdings, which has its registered office in Panama. Ian Cameron, the late father of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, is also named in the document as one of Blairmore's directors.
Meanwhile, Holman Fenwick Willan has come up as an adviser to one of the world's richest people, United Arab Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed Sultan al Nayhan. According to leaked documents, Al Nayhan has been listed as the beneficial owner of at least 30 companies established with the assistance of Mossack Fonesca in the British Virgin Islands, through which he has held commercial and residential properties in London exceeding £1bn in value. HFW is named as one of Al Nayhan's UK advisers.
Other European firms mentioned in Mossack Fonseca's books are legacy Pettman Smith, which merged with Child & Child in 2007, as well as Spanish firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo.
Security warning
The high-profile leak has swung the spotlight aggressively onto law firm data security, coming less than a week after news broke that several high-profile Wall Street legal advisers including Cravath, Swaine & Moore had suffered security breaches. Security experts are calling on law firms to 'up their game' after what The American Lawyer has described as the legal sector's own 'Edward Snowden moment.'
'The risk we have is incredibly real and we are now as a sector being targeted because of the sensitivity of the information we hold,' commented Ropes & Gray privacy and data security partner Rohan Massey. 'As a profession we do need to ensure that our houses are safe and maybe we lag behind because we focus on clients.'
Source: BBC; The Lawyer; Legal Business; The National Law Journal
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