Panama Papers: Leaks spur global investigations

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Quote from 6 Things You Need to Know About the Bombshell 'Panama Papers' Leak:

5. There is a conspicuous lack of U.S. players named in the initial reporting.

Adam Johnson, a contributing writer for AlterNet and FAIR, pointed out this absence on social media:

   The United States is pure and good and incorruptible. pic.twitter.com/Xo9LEuCavF
   — Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) April 3, 2016

However, the editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung says there is more to come.

   Editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung responded to the lack of U.S. individuals in the documents, saying "Just wait for what is coming next"
   — Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) April 3, 2016

6. Don’t forget about the “free trade” deal between the U.S. and Panama.

Bearing similarities to the infamous NAFTA deal, the "United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement" was implemented in 2012.

According to Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, "Nearly five years after the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement vote, the Panama Paper leak proves once again how entirely cynical and meaningless are the lavish promises made by American presidents and corporations about the economic benefits and policy reforms from trade agreements. The top promise about the benefits of  the U.S.-Panama FTA was that it would end Panama’s financial crime secrecy protections and tax haven and money laundering activities, but this leak shows that, if anything, Panama’s outrageous financial crime facilitation has intensified while the FTA’s investor protections and official U.S. stamp of approval has increased inflows of dirty money to Panama."

"Now the same cast of characters is making equally outlandish promises of the benefits of the TPP," Wallach told AlterNet, "while, increasingly, past supporters of these pacts are joining long-term critics in saying that the TPP will not deliver economic gains for most Americans or improvement in labor, environmental or human rights policy among its signatories."

Source: AlterNet, April 4, 2016