city panama no . of employees 500 1 key people rub n hern ndez ceo 2 date founded 1977 ; 39 years ago 1977 founder j rgen mossack and ram n fonseca website mossfon.com mossack fonseca headquarters mossack fonseca & co. is a panamanian law firm and corporate service provider founded in 1986 and has more than 40 offices worldwide . 1 3 the firm received worldwide media attention in april 2016 when information about its clients financial dealings was published by the international consortium of investigative journalists in the panama papers articles following the release of an enormous cache of its documents from between 1970 and 2015 leaked to the news media . 4 contents 1 history and practice areas 2 offices and international practice 3 controversies 3.1 argentine money laundering 3.2 commerzbank 3.3 petrobras 3.4 panama papers leak 4 see also 5 references history and practice areas edit the firm was founded by german lawyer j rgen mossack in 1977 and joined by panamanian novelist lawyer ram n fonseca in 1986 . 5 it later added a third director swiss lawyer christoph zollinger . 6 it specializes in commercial law trust services investor advisory and international business structures . 7 it also offers intellectual property protection and maritime law services . 1 8 an internal memorandum revealed in the 2016 panama papers leak noted that 95 % of the company s work consists of selling vehicles to avoid taxes . 9 j rgen mossack ram n fonseca in 2013 the firm was described as one of seven that collectively represented more than half of the offshore companies incorporated in panama . 10 the firm also houses several panama incorporated companies within its offices . 11 it is one of the largest firms in the corporate services industry . 3 however the founder claims that its volume represents only around 5 % of the global financial services legal industry . 12 according to the economist the firm has 5 to 10 % of the global shell company market 13 and it has been described as tight lipped . 3 offices and international practice edit the firm has nine offices in china 3 several in latin america 14 others in the united states 7 and europe with two in switzerland . 15 lawyers from the firm have been sent to foreign countries to promote business in panama and panamanian financial products . 16 mossack established operations in the british virgin islands in 1987 where it incorporated more than 100 000 companies . 17 the firm was consulted by the country of niue when it sought to become an offshore financial center and managed that business exclusively for the country through their panama headquarters . 18 19 however american banks imposed embargoes on bank transfers to niue in 2001 leading to a shutdown of the business in 2005 . 17 accounts of the firm s clients were moved from niue to american samoa . 6 controversies edit the firm has allegedly helped foreign citizens circumvent their local tax laws 6 20 21 and sometimes even international sanctions . 6 22 the firm s founder has argued that it simply helps its clients achieve privacy and that it now complies with know your customer regulations . 12 argentine money laundering edit main article the route of the k money in 2014 mf corporate services was subpoenaed by a hedge fund seeking to recover money from the argentinian government.the fund alleged that mf had created shell companies to pass money from the government to l zaro b ez an ally of the kirchner family . 6 17 j rgen mossack testified under oath that m.f. corporate services nevada ltd. had no affiliation with the panamanian mossack fonseca but the panama papers show that it was in fact a wholly owned subsidiary and mossack fonseca tried to hide the relationship ordering emails and other computer footprints deleted . 23 24 despite mossack fonseca s claim that it did not own mf corporate services a nevada judge ruled that the subpoena against mossack fonseca was valid . 17 25 26 the firm was fighting an order that it turn over the details of 123 shell companies created by an associate of a former president of argentina . 23 27 commerzbank edit in february 2015 the firm was implicated in the german government s investigation of money laundering and tax evasion schemes at commerzbank . 21 28 petrobras edit main article operation car wash in january 2016 employees of the firm s brazilian office were charged in relation to the ongoing petrobras corruption scandal . in that case a judge alleged that mossack fonseca provided services for the opening of offshore societies and at least four agents were involved in a scheme to launder money . 29 the firm has responded that the brazilian office is a franchise and not controlled by the main office in panama . 17 the firm s founder resigned from his advisory position to the panamanian government to focus on the brazilian allegations and says the firm has been cleared . 12 panama papers leak edit main article panama papers on 3 april 2016 the german newspaper s ddeutsche zeitung sz announced that 11.5 million confidential documents from the firm had been leaked to them . these documents dubbed the panama papers reveal how clients hid billions of dollars in tax havens . 30 comprising documents dating from the 1970s to the present the 2.6 terabytes of data was given to sz in 2015 by an anonymous source . because of the amount of data sz enlisted the help of the washington based international consortium of investigative journalists icij . 31 32 33 the firm says that this coverage has misrepresented their work . 34 in its full statement 35 the company asserts that it conducts due diligence on potential clients routinely denying services to those who are compromised and routinely resigns from client engagements when ongoing due diligence and or updates to sanctions lists reveal problems . in addition however the company has said that responsibility for potential legal violations may lie with failures or lapses by other institutions given that approximately 90 % of our clientele is comprised of professional clients such as international financial institutions as well as trust companies and prominent law and accounting firms who act as intermediaries and are regulated in the jurisdiction of their business . these clients are obliged to perform due diligence on their clients in accordance with the kyc and aml regulations to which they are subject . the company informed clients on 3 april 2016 that files had been obtained through a hack of the company s email server . 36 forbes has suggested that the firm s information security was poor running old versions of key tools 37 and still other vulnerabilities have since been discovered . 38 shortly after the leak panamanian peruvian and el salvadorian police raided the local offices of mossack fonseca . 39 see also edit marc harris references edit a b c the legal 500 mossack fonseca the legal 500 mossack fonseca se une al programa mi escuela primero sumarse 15 december 2015 . a b c d shells and shelves . the economist . april 7 2012 . retrieved march 8 2013 . panama papers why should we care the panama papers leak shows that it is not just the global tax system that is broken but global governance itself . . al jazeera . 6 april 2016 . retrieved 11 april 2016 . graham david a. 4 april 2015 . what is mossack fonesca the law firm in the panama papers . the atlantic . atlantic media . retrieved 5 april 2016 . a b c d e silverstein ken 3 december 2014 . the law firm that works with oligarchs money launderers and dictators . vice . vice media . retrieved 16 december 2014 . a b mossack fonseca about the group . mossfon.com . mossack fonseca & co. retrieved 2016 04 04 . our ... professionals specialize in trust services wealth management international business structures and commercial law among other areas . raquel arauz november 26 2014 . the importance of registering your brand . mossack fonseca . retrieved march 8 2013 . juliette garside ; holly watt ; david pegg 3 april 2016 . the panama papers how the world s rich and famous hide their money offshore . the guardian . retrieved 14 april 2016 . alma sol s march 8 2013 . acciones al portador provocan divisiones in spanish . la estrella de panam . archived from the original on 2013 03 13 . retrieved march 8 2013 . jos mar a olmo february 15 2013 . gonz lez pasa al ataque contra el sup por las acusaciones sobre su tico . el confidencial . retrieved march 8 2013 . a b c webber jude 2016 04 05 . mossack fonseca founder dismisses panama papers as witch hunt . financial times . issn 0307 1766 . retrieved 2016 04 05 . the panama papers a torrential leak . the economist . 9 april 2016 . retrieved 9 april 2016 . panama papers secret offshores trace back to brickell condo featured on miami vice . miamiherald . retrieved 2016 04 05 . samuel gerber february 24 2010 . o wie sch n ist panama f r steuerfl chtlinge . handelszeitung . retrieved march 8 2013 . panama s the place to be . isle of man examiner . november 1 2001 . retrieved march 8 2013 . a b c d e hamilton martha 2016 04 03 . panamanian law firm is gatekeeper to vast flow of murky offshore secrets . international consortium of investigative journalists . retrieved 2016 04 04 . findley michael g. ; nielson daniel l. ; sharman j. c. 2014 01 23 . global shell games experiments in transnational relations crime and terrorism . cambridge university press . isbn 9781107729681 . fossen anthony van 2012 01 01 . tax havens . univ. of queensland press . isbn 9781921902239 . trevor cole january 27 2011 . how i learned to avoid the taxman in the british virgin islands . globe & mail . retrieved march 8 2013 . a b leyendecker hans . steueraff re ersch ttert commerzbank in german . retrieved 26 february 2015 . cox simon 4 april 2016 . panama papers mossack fonseca helped firms subject to sanctions . bbc news . retrieved 5 april 2016 . a b hamilton martha m. april 3 2016 . panamanian law firm is gatekeeper to vast flow of murky offshore secrets files show client roster that includes drug dealers mafia members corrupt politicians and tax evaders and wrongdoing galore . icij . retrieved april 23 2016 . cite news url http www.economist.com news finance and economics 21696997 thinking investigating firm mentioned panama papers read keys title unlocking mossack fonseca the key s in sin city date april 16 2016 accessdate april 23 2016 work the economist heuer mike 2015 03 18 . judge oks hunt for argentine millions . courthouse news service . retrieved 2016 04 04 . pearson sophia 2014 08 13 . singer gets ok to chase argentina money trail to nevada . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2016 04 05 . romig shane ; p rez santiago april 7 2014 . hedge fund seeks assets in nevada in battle over argentine debt nml takes aim at associate of cristina kirchner and her late husband . wall street journal . retrieved april 23 2016 . braecher michael 2015 03 09 . in panama a german king of shell companies . handelsblatt global edition . retrieved 2016 04 04 . mossack fonseca employees face charges in brazil . la prensa . 2016 01 28 . retrieved 2016 04 04 . harding luke 3 april 2016 . revealed the 2bn offshore trail that leads to vladimir putin . the guardian . retrieved 3 april 2016 . data