ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database
A database providing otherwise secret information about more than 810k offshore companies, foundations, and trusts based on leaks like the Panama Papers or the Paradise Papers.
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A database providing otherwise secret information about more than 810k offshore companies, foundations, and trusts based on leaks like the Panama Papers or the Paradise Papers.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
The database is a repository of five major leaks. The first one, Offshore Leaks, was released in and included more than 100,000 entities. The China Leaks which shed light on China’s elite hiding their wealth in tax havens through offshore companies were added in .
In, the Panama Papers led to the addition of 214,000 entities that disclosed activities of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, whose in a Panamanian court.
In the Bahamas Leaks made corporate registry details of “more than 175,000 Bahamian companies, trusts and foundations registered between 1990 and early 2016” publicly available. More details about the Bahamas Leaks can be found.
The Paradise Papers brought the number of entries in the database to (in 2018). Major stories from the Paradise Papers and their impact can be found .
Finally, in December 2021 the. The data came from two offshore service firms: Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Panama) and Fidelity Corporate Services (British Virgin Islands). In 2022, ICIJ revealed details on from circles close to Putin. The data came from an offshore service provider based in the Seychelles. A list of investigations from the Pandora Papers can be found.
There are various ways to explore the database:
Users can do searches in the whole database. Write the entity name, its jurisdiction or location in the search bar. For instance, “Mossack Fonseca.” Mossack Fonseca is a law firm disclosed in the Panama Papers, in the Panamanian court.
Results can be abundant. On the left, you can filter the results by “offshore entities,” “officers,” “intermediaries,” and “addresses.”
For instance, when you filter by “officer,” the results for “Mossack Fonseca” show “396” results. After filtering, click on the result of your choice. An interactive map shows connections between categories like "officer" and "address". The visualization explains ties between an intermediary, entity, officer, etc. and it can also list an address. Click on the nodes to receive more information.
Offshore Leaks (2013)
Panama Papers (2016)
Bahamas Leaks (2016)
Paradise Papers (2017)
Pandora Papers (2021)
The dataset is free to explore.
The visualization of downloaded datasets requires familiarity with the Neo4j software. The same applies to the use of the Reconciliation API.
When using the dataset, you have to credit the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The data does not include personal information such as bank accounts, email exchanges, or financial transactions. Researchers seeking this type of information may need to use other OSINT tools or data sources.
Anisa Shabir GAP member
ICIJ also provides a detailed section on “”
ICIJ Offshore Leaks also allows users to explore each of the five datasets separately. After selecting a dataset of your choice, you can explore the results for a specific person or company based on this selection. Links to stories/investigations are also provided under each dataset window. Here is an example for the .
section enables users to search for notable names linked to "offshore connections of world leaders, politicians, and their relatives and associates" from three major leaks: Pandora Papers, Paradise Papers, and Panama Papers. Users can explore key figures of public interest from all three leaks combined or from each leak individually.
All five leak databases can be downloaded as . The zip files include:
For user convenience, the data is converted into multiple CSV files, providing the freedom to explore the dataset on the user's terms. The data is also available as "Neo4j" exported databases. ICIJ provides a that explains how to import the data into Neo4j.
A new allows users to match their datasets against the ICIJ database. It is funded by the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Users can use this API to “names, addresses and corporate entities” against the ICIJ’s database. ICIJ states, “The tool accelerates investigations by integrating external data sources.”
The supported API types are, Query API, Data Extension API, Suggest API, View API, Preview API, and Namespaced API. Explore each API’s function. Users can watch this by ICIJ on how to use this new feature.
Not all names behind entities can appear in the dataset. "information about ownership is often buried in emails, power-of-attorney letters and internal notes and cannot easily be extracted in a systematic manner," ICIJ.
Entities in the database are not necessarily involved in any wrongdoing. ICIJ states in its section: "There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any individuals, companies or other entities included in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly." Understanding which entities are involved and the purpose of the research is crucial.
ICIJ offshore leaks provides a three part series on how to use the .
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Reconciliation API guide .
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Link to detailed credits. ICIJ is based in Washington D.C.
