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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/news/live/2016/apr/04/panama-papers-global-reaction-to-huge-leak-of-offshore-tax-files-live
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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Panama Papers: mass protests in Iceland call for prime minister to quit – live | Panama Papers: mass protests in Iceland call for prime minister to quit – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.14pm BST | |
| 22:14 | |
| Late Summary | |
| Updated | |
| at 10.17pm BST | |
| 9.36pm BST | 9.36pm BST |
| 21:36 | 21:36 |
| Jubilee USA: Clamp down on anonymous companies | Jubilee USA: Clamp down on anonymous companies |
| A major US coalition of religious group and faith communities is calling for US authorities to pass legislation to make it more difficult to set up anonymous companies in the US. | A major US coalition of religious group and faith communities is calling for US authorities to pass legislation to make it more difficult to set up anonymous companies in the US. |
| Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA, said in response to the Panama Papers revelations: | Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA, said in response to the Panama Papers revelations: |
| The Panama Papers is the biggest leak we’ve ever seen on how global corruption and tax evasion is facilitated. | The Panama Papers is the biggest leak we’ve ever seen on how global corruption and tax evasion is facilitated. |
| Corruption and money laundering are not victimless crimes. The most vulnerable people in the world are harmed by financial secrecy. | Corruption and money laundering are not victimless crimes. The most vulnerable people in the world are harmed by financial secrecy. |
| Congress should pass legislation to make it more difficult to set up anonymous companies here in the US. These companies fuel corruption, poverty, human trafficking and armed conflict. | Congress should pass legislation to make it more difficult to set up anonymous companies here in the US. These companies fuel corruption, poverty, human trafficking and armed conflict. |
| Congress can pass the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act and move meaningful legislation to stop corruption and tax evasion. | Congress can pass the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act and move meaningful legislation to stop corruption and tax evasion. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.38pm BST | at 9.38pm BST |
| 9.31pm BST | 9.31pm BST |
| 21:31 | 21:31 |
| Your political career is on the ropes and you’re facing distinctly uncomfortable questions about the use, by your wife, of a secretive offshore company with a multi-million claim on your country’s collapsed banks.. What do you do? | Your political career is on the ropes and you’re facing distinctly uncomfortable questions about the use, by your wife, of a secretive offshore company with a multi-million claim on your country’s collapsed banks.. What do you do? |
| In the case of Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, it seems that the answer is to ease some of that tension by doodling a map of your country. | In the case of Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, it seems that the answer is to ease some of that tension by doodling a map of your country. |
| So it looks from pictures of Gunnlaugsson at work in the Icelandic parliament today. | So it looks from pictures of Gunnlaugsson at work in the Icelandic parliament today. |
| Iceland's PM (feeling the #panamapapers heat) doodles a map in parliament (or an escape route?) h/t @sigridurtul pic.twitter.com/FlX0TMKGAU | Iceland's PM (feeling the #panamapapers heat) doodles a map in parliament (or an escape route?) h/t @sigridurtul pic.twitter.com/FlX0TMKGAU |
| That photo comes via Iceland’s Visir, which is also asking people to guess what he’s drawing in the comment box on that piece of paper. | That photo comes via Iceland’s Visir, which is also asking people to guess what he’s drawing in the comment box on that piece of paper. |
| 9.08pm BST | 9.08pm BST |
| 21:08 | 21:08 |
| The US Department of Justice has said it is studying the reports arising from the Panama Papers. Peter Carr, a spokesman, said: | The US Department of Justice has said it is studying the reports arising from the Panama Papers. Peter Carr, a spokesman, said: |
| We are aware of the reports and are reviewing them. While we cannot comment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the US Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the US financial system. | We are aware of the reports and are reviewing them. While we cannot comment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the US Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the US financial system. |
| 9.07pm BST | 9.07pm BST |
| 21:07 | 21:07 |
| The White House’s press secretary was also asked if the US might use the Panama Papers as a springboard for a fresh crackdown on lack of transparency in international finance. | The White House’s press secretary was also asked if the US might use the Panama Papers as a springboard for a fresh crackdown on lack of transparency in international finance. |
| He responded: | He responded: |
| I’m not aware of any specific change in policy or the creation of a new body as a result of these documents but they’ve only been public for 24 hours or so now. | I’m not aware of any specific change in policy or the creation of a new body as a result of these documents but they’ve only been public for 24 hours or so now. |
| But whether or not these documents reveal substantive, legitimate evidence of people thwarting monitors of the international finance system, the United States will continue to be a leading advocate of greater transparency in our financial system. | But whether or not these documents reveal substantive, legitimate evidence of people thwarting monitors of the international finance system, the United States will continue to be a leading advocate of greater transparency in our financial system. |
| 9.06pm BST | 9.06pm BST |
| 21:06 | 21:06 |
| The White House press corps tried to draw John Earnest, the White House press secretary, specifically on the leaks relating to US allies such as Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina who hosted Barack Obama last month, and Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko. | The White House press corps tried to draw John Earnest, the White House press secretary, specifically on the leaks relating to US allies such as Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina who hosted Barack Obama last month, and Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko. |
| David Smith reports however that Earnest did not bite, instead praising Poroshenko’s anti-corruption reforms. | David Smith reports however that Earnest did not bite, instead praising Poroshenko’s anti-corruption reforms. |
| 9.04pm BST | 9.04pm BST |
| 21:04 | 21:04 |
| US: Greater transparency roots out corruption | US: Greater transparency roots out corruption |
| The Panama Papers were near the top of the agenda during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, reports David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington correspondent. | The Panama Papers were near the top of the agenda during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, reports David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington correspondent. |
| Asked about the massive data leak, and Russia’s claim that Vladimir Putin is being targeted, John Earnest, the White House press secretary, replied: | Asked about the massive data leak, and Russia’s claim that Vladimir Putin is being targeted, John Earnest, the White House press secretary, replied: |
| Obviously we’ve seen the extensive reporting that’s been done on these leaked documents. I don’t have a comment on the specific allegations that are included in those documents. | Obviously we’ve seen the extensive reporting that’s been done on these leaked documents. I don’t have a comment on the specific allegations that are included in those documents. |
| But I can tell you that the United States continues to be leading advocate for increased transparency in the international financial system and in working against illicit financial transactions and in fighting corruption. | But I can tell you that the United States continues to be leading advocate for increased transparency in the international financial system and in working against illicit financial transactions and in fighting corruption. |
| Earnest had evidently been following the reports and repeatedly batted away attempts to elicit on a comment on specific individuals, contending that the vast scale of the leak means it will take time to digest. Instead he focused on the general implications of opaque financial transactions for US national security. | Earnest had evidently been following the reports and repeatedly batted away attempts to elicit on a comment on specific individuals, contending that the vast scale of the leak means it will take time to digest. Instead he focused on the general implications of opaque financial transactions for US national security. |
| There’s been a lot of talk over the course of the last year or so about how effective US sanctions that are imposed by the Treasury Department can be in advancing the national security interests of the United States. | There’s been a lot of talk over the course of the last year or so about how effective US sanctions that are imposed by the Treasury Department can be in advancing the national security interests of the United States. |
| That’s true if we are isolating the Russians because of their violation of the territorial integrity of the sovereign nation of Ukraine or increasingly isolating and pressuring the North Korean regime to give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons or in targeting Isil’s financing operations. | That’s true if we are isolating the Russians because of their violation of the territorial integrity of the sovereign nation of Ukraine or increasingly isolating and pressuring the North Korean regime to give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons or in targeting Isil’s financing operations. |
| So that’s why the United States is a leading advocate of greater transparency in these kinds of international financial transactions. Greater transparency allows us to root out corruption and to fight efforts to get around US sanctions that have been put in place. | So that’s why the United States is a leading advocate of greater transparency in these kinds of international financial transactions. Greater transparency allows us to root out corruption and to fight efforts to get around US sanctions that have been put in place. |
| 8.58pm BST | 8.58pm BST |
| 20:58 | 20:58 |
| Iceland’s embattled prime minster has been responding to the pressure he is now under after leaked documents showed his wife owned a secretive offshore company with a potentially multimillion-pound claim on the country’s collapsed banks – representing what opponents said was a major conflict of interest. | Iceland’s embattled prime minster has been responding to the pressure he is now under after leaked documents showed his wife owned a secretive offshore company with a potentially multimillion-pound claim on the country’s collapsed banks – representing what opponents said was a major conflict of interest. |
| The Guardian’s Jon Henley reports from Reykjavik that Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson insisted that his two-party centre-right coalition government had always put the interest of the public before his own in dealing with the financial claims – at the cost, he said, of his wife’s financial interests. | The Guardian’s Jon Henley reports from Reykjavik that Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson insisted that his two-party centre-right coalition government had always put the interest of the public before his own in dealing with the financial claims – at the cost, he said, of his wife’s financial interests. |
| Jon adds : | Jon adds : |
| But his political opponents, local media and many ordinary Icelanders still struggling to recover from the crisis – which halved the value of the country’s currency and led to a bailout from the International Monetary Fund – feel Gunnlaugsson should have been open about his family’s overseas assets and the existence of Wintris. | But his political opponents, local media and many ordinary Icelanders still struggling to recover from the crisis – which halved the value of the country’s currency and led to a bailout from the International Monetary Fund – feel Gunnlaugsson should have been open about his family’s overseas assets and the existence of Wintris. |
| “What would be the most natural and the right thing to do is that he resign as prime minister,” said Birgitta Jónsdóttir, of the opposition Pirate party. “There is great demand for that in society; he has totally lost all his trust and believability.” | “What would be the most natural and the right thing to do is that he resign as prime minister,” said Birgitta Jónsdóttir, of the opposition Pirate party. “There is great demand for that in society; he has totally lost all his trust and believability.” |
| The former Social Democrat prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said Gunnlaugsson should go because he had “displayed his lack of faith in the Icelandic currency and economy”. | The former Social Democrat prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said Gunnlaugsson should go because he had “displayed his lack of faith in the Icelandic currency and economy”. |
| 8.33pm BST | 8.33pm BST |
| 20:33 | 20:33 |
| A popular chant among the thousands protesting in the streets of Reykjavik is “Vanhæf ríkisstjórn,” which roughly translaters as “unfit/unqualified Government” | A popular chant among the thousands protesting in the streets of Reykjavik is “Vanhæf ríkisstjórn,” which roughly translaters as “unfit/unqualified Government” |
| It’s a slogan that was popular during the winter of 2008 and afterwards, when thousands of Icelanders took to the streets amid the collapse of the banking system and the currency, the krona, which left Iceland saddled with debts that were at one point 11 times its national income. Anger was a recurrent theme on the streets of a state which had never experienced unrest of that sort. | It’s a slogan that was popular during the winter of 2008 and afterwards, when thousands of Icelanders took to the streets amid the collapse of the banking system and the currency, the krona, which left Iceland saddled with debts that were at one point 11 times its national income. Anger was a recurrent theme on the streets of a state which had never experienced unrest of that sort. |
| Another popular call from many in the crowds in Reykjavik is for the country’s crowed sourced constitution to be brought back. It was an experiment that ultimately stalled, but could it be due for a comeback? | Another popular call from many in the crowds in Reykjavik is for the country’s crowed sourced constitution to be brought back. It was an experiment that ultimately stalled, but could it be due for a comeback? |
| Related: Mob rule: Iceland crowdsources its next constitution | Related: Mob rule: Iceland crowdsources its next constitution |
| 8.14pm BST | 8.14pm BST |
| 20:14 | 20:14 |
| Sigridur Tulinius, an Icelander living and working in politics in London, has been tweeting about the latest television interview given by Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson | Sigridur Tulinius, an Icelander living and working in politics in London, has been tweeting about the latest television interview given by Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson |
| PM says that the people have right to protest but does not see it as a reason to resign #panamapapers | PM says that the people have right to protest but does not see it as a reason to resign #panamapapers |
| PM is being asked whether he is willing to show evidence that him and his wife have paid taxes. He does not rule that out #panamapapers | PM is being asked whether he is willing to show evidence that him and his wife have paid taxes. He does not rule that out #panamapapers |
| PM claims that the assets are owned by his wife and not him. Does not see that in itself as conflict of interest #panamapapers | PM claims that the assets are owned by his wife and not him. Does not see that in itself as conflict of interest #panamapapers |