What is the Paradise Papers database?
November 05, 2017
The Paradise Papers is a database comprising around 13.4 million documents, which reveals details of over 25,000 companies owned by the world's rich and influential individuals, corporations, companies and trusts.
The documents were obtained from two companies in Singapore and Bermuda by a German newspaper and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). A major part of the Paradise Papers comprises leaked files from company 'Appleby'.
The files reveal data of over 25,000 companies owned by individuals from 180 countries, from 1950 to 2016.
Below is a comparison of Paradise Papers with Panama Papers:
Number of politicians and public officials
Paradise Papers: 127 politicians and public officials (14 current or former country leaders included) from more than 47 countries
Panama Papers: 140 politicians and public officials from more than 50 countries
Which leak is bigger than the other?
Paradise Papers is bigger in number of records (13.5 million in Paradise Papers vs. 11.5 million in Panama Papers) and Panama Papers is bigger in terms of size of the leak (1.4 Tb in Paradise Papers vs. 2.6 Tb in Panama Papers).
It is one of the biggest leaks in the history of journalism instead of the biggest, and then one may also compare some of the different figures related to the data size between Paradise Papers and previous leaks.
Journalists in Paradise Papers project
Media partners, countries, journalists
* Number of journalists 381
* Number of media partners 96
* Number of countries 67
If you just consider the number of journalists, yes. There are more journalists working on the Paradise Papers than the Panama Papers at the time of the project release (381 Paradise Papers - 376 Panama Papers).
As for the number of media partners and number of countries, there are a few less. Panama Papers had 100+ media partners and 76 countries. The ICIJ currently has for Paradise Papers 96 media partners and 67 countries.
Indian connections
According to the Indian Express, the core difference between the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, other than the latter's higher number of documents, is that Panama was more about individuals whereas Paradise details dealings of corporates, companies and the incorporation of trusts.
It has been revealed that the firm Appleby has incorporated 2,700 trusts. Moreover, Panama Papers had 37,000 files on India whereas Paradise Papers have more than 66,000 files related to India.
The files lift the corporate veil from Indian companies and promoters, according to journalists working at the Indian Express.
They say that the burden of proof is always on the regulator. Only when a fraud is revealed can the regulator lift the veil.
It has also been revealed that Indian entities were asking Appleby officials to appoint their own people as board directors of companies.
The Indian Express terms the leaks a "treasure trove" that will help regulators overcome the obstacles of secrecy which protect the dodgy world of offshore finances.
