The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the ICIJ, has announced the public availability of their newest project: Call it the Bahamas Leaks, or the Bahamas Papers, data on 175,000 registered Bahamian companies, trusts and foundation, formed between 1990 and 2016. The data is contained in as estimated 1.3m files.
There are 539 Registered Agents in the data, including, of course, Mossack Fonseca, which the ICIJ says set up 15,915 entities in the Bahamas, making it MFs third-largest jurisdiction for corporate formation. Many articles about the Panama Papers have neglected to mention the importance of the opaque Bahamian company to Mossack's dodgy clientele.
Most experienced North American compliance officers have run up against Bahamian information opacity, and will appreciate the ability to peak into information which has been heretofore denied to them.
Inquiring minds have already identified several prominent European PEPs, as well as many Middle Eastern and Latin American individuals of public interest, in the Bahamian material.
The Bahamian data has already been integrated into the ICIJ Offshore Leaks database, together with the Panama Papers, and other databases, and you can search it here.
Contributed by Kenneth Rijock
Chronicles of Monte Friesner