The Panama Papers exposed a huge global problem. What's next? | Robert Palmer

譯者: 易帆 余 審譯者: Harry Chen

[On April 3, 2016 we saw the largest data leak in history.]

［ 2016 年 4 月 3 號我們看到了 史上最大宗的資料檔案洩密］

[The Panama Papers exposed rich and powerful people]

［ 巴拿馬文件揭穿了權貴者們 一直隱藏在海外帳戶的巨款 ］

[hiding vast amounts of money in offshore accounts.]

[What does this mean?]

［ 這有什麼涵意呢？］

[We called Robert Palmer of Global Witness to explain.]

［我們找來「全球見證」的 羅伯特．帕爾默為我們說明］

This week, there have been a whole slew and deluge of stories

本周從巴拿馬的 莫薩克．馮塞卡律師事務所

coming out from the leak of 11 million documents

外洩出的 1,100 萬份文件，

from a Panamanian-based law firm called Mossack Fonseca.

為我們帶來了整體大量的驚人故事。

The release of these papers from Panama lifts the veil on a tiny piece

這些巴拉拿文件的公布

揭開了鮮為人知之 離岸公司世界的滄海一粟

of the secretive offshore world.

We get an insight into how clients and banks and lawyers

我們見識到委託人、銀行以及律師們

go to companies like Mossack Fonseca

如何找上像莫薩克．馮塞卡這種公司，

and say, "OK, we want an anonymous company,

開口說：「我們要開一間不記名公司，

can you give us one?"

可以幫我們搞一個嗎？」

So you actually get to see the emails,

所以你一定要去看看這些電子郵件、

you get to see the exchanges of messages,

一定要去看看他們往來的信息、

you get to see the mechanics of how this works,

一定要去了解這個機制是 如何進行、如何運作的。

how this operates.

Now, this has already started to have pretty immediate repercussions.

如今這事已經開始有了噩耗影響──

The Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned.

冰島總理已經引辭。

We've also had news

我們也已經有了消息指出

that an ally of the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad

敘利亞獨裁者 巴沙爾．阿薩德的一名同夥

has also got offshore companies.

也有好幾間離岸公司。

There's been allegations of a $2 billion money trail

也有指控說 20 億美金的金流

that leads back to President Vladimir Putin of Russia

透過俄羅斯總統 普丁的 兒時密友回流給他，

via his close childhood friend,

該玩伴後來變成了頂尖的大提琴家。

who happens to be a top cellist.

And there will be a lot of rich individuals out there

而且將會有很多除此其外的 富豪和其他人等

and others who will be nervous about the next set of stories

將要開始擔心下一波新聞

and the next set of leaked documents.

和下一批外洩檔案。

Now, this sounds like the plot of a spy thriller

這現在聽起來像是間諜小說的故事，

or a John Grisham novel.

或是約翰．葛里遜的小說，

It seems very distant from you, me, ordinary people.

聽起來對你、我和一般大眾 好像非常遙不可及的。

Why should we care about this?

為何我們應該在意呢？

But the truth is that if rich and powerful individuals

真相是因為如果權貴者們 得以把錢滯留在海外，

are able to keep their money offshore

and not pay the taxes that they should,

而不繳交他們應付的稅金，

it means that there is less money for vital public services

這就代表用來做必要之 公共服務的錢比較少了──

like healthcare, education, roads.

像是醫療、教育、修橋鋪路，

And that affects all of us.

而那樣就影響到我們所有人了。

Now, for my organization Global Witness,

在我們「全球見證」裡面，

this exposé has been phenomenal.

這件大爆料是不得了的。

We have the world's media and political leaders

我們找來各國媒體與政治領袖

talking about how individuals can use offshore secrecy

談論關於私人如何使用離岸公司的保密性

to hide and disguise their assets --

來藏匿和粉飾他們的資產──

something we have been talking about and exposing for a decade.

我們已經不停談論並揭發長達十年了。

Now, I think a lot of people find this entire world baffling and confusing,

現在很多人發現到這整個境外天地 是猜不透和令人困惑的，

and hard to understand how this sort of offshore world works.

而且很難理解這種境外天地如何運作；

I like to think of it a bit like a Russian doll.

我喜歡把它們想成有點像俄羅斯娃娃，

So you can have one company stacked inside another company,

所以你可以把一間公司 完好收進另一間公司裡，

stacked inside another company,

再完好收進另一家公司裡，

making it almost impossible to really understand

讓它幾乎無法讓人理解， 究竟幕後真正的黑手是誰。

who is behind these structures.

It can be very difficult for law enforcement

對執法單位、稅務機關、 記者、公民團體而言

or tax authorities, journalists, civil society

to really understand what's going on.

要了解究竟怎麼回事真的是很困難。

I also think it's interesting

另外我也覺得有趣的是──

that there's been less coverage of this issue in the United States.

在美國這個議題的報導很少，

And that's perhaps because some prominent US people

可能是因為一些有頭臉的美國人

just haven't figured in this exposé, in this scandal.

僅僅還沒在這個大爆料、 醜聞裡被點到名。

Now, that's not because there are no rich Americans

並不是因為沒有美國的富人

不斷大量藏匿資產在海外，

who are stashing their assets offshore.

It's just because of the way in which offshore works,

只是因為境外天地運作的該管道──

Mossack Fonseca has fewer American clients.

莫薩克．馮賽卡有著 較少的美國委託人。

I think if we saw leaks from the Cayman Islands

我認為如果我們去看來自開曼群島、

or even from Delaware or Wyoming or Nevada,

甚或德拉瓦、懷俄明、 內華達州的洩密案件，

you would see many more cases and examples linking back to Americans.

你會看到多許多的案例 背後牽扯上美國人。

In fact, in a number of US states you need less information,

事實上美國有幾個州 你只需提供一點點資料，

you need to provide less information to get a company

比申請圖書館證還要少的資料， 你就可以申請到一家公司。

than you do to get a library card.

That sort of secrecy in America has allowed employees of school districts

在美國的這種黑箱已經放任 學區的職員欺詐學生，

to rip off schoolchildren.

It has allowed scammers to rip off vulnerable investors.

甚至還放任詐騙集團 詐騙易受騙的投資人。

This is the sort of behavior that affects all of us.

這類行為影響到我們全部人。

Now, at Global Witness,

我們「全球見證」想要知道 在實務面這個到底是什麼樣貌？

we wanted to see what this actually looked like in practice.

How does this actually work?

這究竟是如何運作的？

So what we did

我們當時做的就是 把一名持假身分的調查員

is we sent in an undercover investigator to 13 Manhattan law firms.

送到曼哈頓的13 間律師事務所裡，

Our investigator posed as an African minister

我們的調查員喬裝成一名非洲高官，

who wanted to move suspect funds into the United States

想把來路不明的資金移到美國的，

to buy a house, a yacht, a jet.

來購買房子、遊艇、噴射機；

Now, what was truly shocking was that all but one of those lawyers

讓我們真正震驚的是 所有律師中竟有一位

provided our investigator with suggestions

給我們的調查員一個 如何移動這筆資金的建議。

on how to move those suspect funds.

These were all preliminary meetings,

這些全都只是初來乍到的會面，

and none of the lawyers took us on as a client

而且都沒有律師把我們 視為委託人承接案件，

and of course no money moved hands,

當然也就沒有錢轉手了，

but it really shows the problem with the system.

但是確實顯示出這個體系有了問題。

It's also important

同樣重要的是不要把 這件事當成不過就是私人個案，

to not just think about this as individual cases.

This is not just about an individual lawyer

這不光是單獨一位律師跟 我們調查員洽談跟給建言有關，

who's spoken to our undercover investigator and provided suggestions.

It's not just about a particular senior politician

也不光是特定的資深政治人物 在醜聞中被抓到了；

who's been caught up in a scandal.

This is about how a system works,

這是關於我們的系統如何運行

that entrenches corruption, tax evasion, poverty and instability.

加深了腐敗、逃漏稅、 貧窮、社會的不安定。

And in order to tackle this,

為了解決掉這件事，

we need to change the game.

我們必須改變遊戲，

We need to change the rules of the game

我們必須改變遊戲規則，

to make this sort of behavior harder.

來讓這種行為更為困難。

This may seem like doom and gloom,

這看起來好像沒甚麼希望，

like there's nothing we can do about it,

好像我們都沒轍一樣，

like nothing has ever changed,

好像沒有事情會改變一樣，

like there will always be rich and powerful individuals.

好像永遠都會有權貴者在。

But as a natural optimist,

但身為一位天生的樂觀主義者，

I do see that we are starting to get some change.

我真的看到了我們正開始要改變。

Over the last couple of years,

最近這幾年來

we've seen a real push towards greater transparency

提到公司的持有人時我們已經看到 公司更加透明化的實質推動。

when it comes to company ownership.

This issue was put on the political agenda

這件事情被英國首相 大衛．卡麥隆

by the UK Prime Minister David Cameron

at a big G8 Summit that was held in Northern Ireland in 2013.

在 2013 年北愛爾蘭舉行的 G8 高峰會放在政治議題上。

And since then, the European Union is going to be creating

自此歐盟打算建立 國家層級的中央註冊中心，

central registers at a national level

of who really owns and controls companies across Europe.

說明清楚是誰真正持有、 控制這些歐洲境內的公司。

One of the things that is sad is that, actually, the US is lagging behind.

但令人難過的事是美國實際上 還在後面托拖拉拉。

There's bipartisan legislation that had been introduced

兩黨共推的法案已經 被提案進參、眾兩院，

in the House and the Senate,

but it isn't making as much progress as we'd like to see.

但是並沒有做出我們想要看到的進展。

So we'd really want to see the Panama leaks,

所以我們真的很想看到巴拿馬文件，

this huge peek into the offshore world,

被用來作為公佈在美國 和世界各處的黑箱，

be used as a way of opening up in the US and around the world.

這個對離岸公司世界的大肆窺探。

For us at Global Witness, this is a moment for change.

對「全球見證」的我們來說 現在是求取改變的時刻，

We need ordinary people to get angry

我們需要小老百姓對有人可以在 黑箱公司背後隱藏身份的方法感到生氣。

at the way in which people can hide their identity

behind secret companies.

We need business leaders to stand up and say,

我們想要商業領袖站出來說：

"Secrecy like this is not good for business."

「這樣做生意的方式是不對的」；

We need political leaders to recognize the problem,

我們需要政治領袖們體認到這個問題，

and to commit to changing the law to open up this sort of secrecy.

並承諾修改法律來打開這些黑箱。

Together, we can end the secrecy

我們一起來就能終止這個黑箱－

that is currently allowing tax evasion,

目前正放任逃漏稅、貪汙、 洗錢蓬勃滋生。

corruption, money laundering to flourish.