Panama Papers (2016): A firm closes, a method repeats

John Doe's manifesto, published later, framed the leak as a protest against inequality. German reporters Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier received the first contact at Süddeutsche Zeitung. ICIJ, then directed by Gerard Ryle, organised the collaboration so that local desks could read local names — a method later reused on Paradise Papers and Pandora Papers.

Iceland's resignation was the cleanest early political result: a prime minister who had not disclosed a company tied to crashed Icelandic banks left after public anger. Pakistan's Panama case became a multi-year Supreme Court and accountability-bureau fight that ended Sharif's third premiership. Other countries opened tax audits that produced fines more often than prison.

English-language papers emphasised Western politicians and celebrities; Spanish- and Latin American desks emphasised regional elites. Both readings are in the files. The leak was not a single nation's scandal. Panama's government protested that the country had been branded, and later tightened some registry rules under international pressure.