5 Nov 2017

... [A] leak of 13.4m files that expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive – and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth. The project has been called the Paradise Papers.

It reveals [...] Aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, including Nike and Apple. [...] The secret loan and alliance used by the London-listed multinational Glencore in its efforts to secure lucrative mining rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

...[M]ultinational companies are shifting a growing share of profits offshore – €600bn in the last year alone – the leading economist Gabriel Zucman will reveal in a study to be published later this week.

...At the centre of the leak is Appleby, a law firm with outposts in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. 

...It acted for the establishment offshore, providing the structures that helped to legally reduce their tax bills.  Appleby says it has investigated all the allegations, and found “there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients"...

[See The Guardian's series on the Paradise Papers here]