Jun 9, 2016
The Panama Papers and the UK’s ‘Dirty Dozen’
From Simon Cowell to David Cameron’s father, the Panama Papers offer up a rogue’s gallery of wealthy UK citizens
Which country/region has seen its highest profile citizens, celebrities and politicians most exposed by the Panama Papers? For Western nations it is the UK, by a landslide. From Prime Minister David Cameron’s father to American Idol creator and producer Simon Cowell to Margaret Thatcher’s son, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ, which released the Panama Papers) and the press in the UK have produced a rogue’s gallery of wealthy actors. Keep in mind, none of the UK’s ‘dirty dozen’ has admitted to any wrongdoing.
In the event you don’t have time to review the Panama Papers’ data, here is an infographic that lays out the case for each member of the ‘dirty dozen.’
The UK has been a bad actor from a financial perspective for years. In fact, numerous reports have labeled the UK as one of the world’s leading regions for money laundering, though as you can see in the infographic it has improved its corruption ranking with Transparency International from 14th place worldwide in 2014 to 10th place currently. That being said the UK owns the largest amount of intermediaries (banks, law firms, company incorporators and middle men) in the world, 2nd only to Hong Kong, which we noted a few weeks ago for rampant financial corruption and money laundering in relation to Mexican drug cartels.
The graphic speaks for itself, but if you have questions please comment below. All data was provided by the ICIJ, and Transparency International.
