Learning English

Panama tax leaks

A huge leak of information has revealed how the rich and powerful have hidden their wealth and avoided taxes by registering companies in Panama. Millions of files released from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have shown connections to world leaders, international organisations and a North Korean company.

In the video, Finn and Catherine explore language used by newspapers and websites across the world to talk about this story.

Language challenge

Panama gives its name to a famous article of clothing. Is it a kind of:

a) jacket

b) hat

c) tie

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

Documents from the Panamanian legal firm at the heart of a huge data leak, Mossack Fonseca, show it has clients from Syria and North Korea who were blacklisted by US Treasury sanctions. They include companies linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and a close relative of Syria's president.

Simon Cox – BBC reporter

The leaked documents show that Mossack Fonseca set up a company in 2006 called DCB Finance, based in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, but didn't take notice of this for four years, until late 2010, when they stopped doing business with the firm.

It was later sanctioned by the US Treasury for raising funds for the North Korean regime and being linked to a bank helping to fund the regime's nuclear weapons programme.

Mossack Fonseca also ran six companies for Syria's wealthiest businessman, Rami Makhlouf, after he was sanctioned by the US in 2008.

Mossack Fonseca said they had never knowingly allowed the use of their companies by individuals having any relationship with North Korea or Syria.

Key words and phrases

at the heart of
at the centre of

leak
(here) sharing of secret information with the public

blacklisted
put on a blacklist: a list of people, countries, organisations etc who are not approved of and blocked from doing certain things

sanctions
(here) official orders to stop a country or organisation from trading or communication

links
connections

bombshell
(here) piece of unexpected and shocking news

Downloads

You can download the audio and PDF document for this episode here.

Language challenge - answer

The answer is: b) hat.

More

Learn more about this story with BBC News.

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