[The Panama Papers exposed rich and powerful people]

［ 2016 年 4 月 3 號我們看到了 史上最大宗的資料檔案洩密］

[hiding vast amounts of money in offshore accounts.]

［ 巴拿馬文件揭穿了權貴者們 一直隱藏在海外帳戶的巨款 ］

[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

of the secretive offshore world.

揭開了鮮為人知之 離岸公司世界的滄海一粟

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.

如今這事已經開始有了噩耗影響──

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

冰島總理已經引辭。

The Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned.

我們也已經有了消息指出

We've also had news

敘利亞獨裁者 巴沙爾．阿薩德的一名同夥

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

也有好幾間離岸公司。

has also got offshore companies.

也有指控說 20 億美金的金流

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

透過俄羅斯總統 普丁的 兒時密友回流給他，

that leads back to President Vladimir Putin of Russia

該玩伴後來變成了頂尖的大提琴家。

via his close childhood friend,

而且將會有很多除此其外的 富豪和其他人等

who happens to be a top cellist.

將要開始擔心下一波新聞

And there will be a lot of rich individuals out there

和下一批外洩檔案。

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

這現在聽起來像是間諜小說的故事，

and the next set of leaked documents.

或是約翰．葛里遜的小說，

Now, this sounds like the plot of a spy thriller

聽起來對你、我和一般大眾 好像非常遙不可及的。

or a John Grisham novel.

為何我們應該在意呢？

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

真相是因為如果權貴者們 得以把錢滯留在海外，

Why should we care about this?

而不繳交他們應付的稅金，

But the truth is that if rich and powerful individuals

這就代表用來做必要之 公共服務的錢比較少了──

are able to keep their money offshore

像是醫療、教育、修橋鋪路，

and not pay the taxes that they should,

而那樣就影響到我們所有人了。

it means that there is less money for vital public services

在我們「全球見證」裡面，

like healthcare, education, roads.

這件大爆料是不得了的。

And that affects all of us.

我們找來各國媒體與政治領袖

Now, for my organization Global Witness,

談論關於私人如何使用離岸公司的保密性

this exposé has been phenomenal.

來藏匿和粉飾他們的資產──

We have the world's media and political leaders

我們已經不停談論並揭發長達十年了。

talking about how individuals can use offshore secrecy

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，

to hide and disguise their assets --

而且很難理解這種境外天地如何運作；

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

我喜歡把它們想成有點像俄羅斯娃娃，

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

所以你可以把一間公司 完好收進另一間公司裡，

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

再完好收進另一家公司裡，

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

讓它幾乎無法讓人理解， 究竟幕後真正的黑手是誰。

So you can have one company stacked inside another company,

對執法單位、稅務機關、 記者、公民團體而言

stacked inside another company,

要了解究竟怎麼回事真的是很困難。

making it almost impossible to really understand

另外我也覺得有趣的是──

who is behind these structures.

在美國這個議題的報導很少，

It can be very difficult for law enforcement

可能是因為一些有頭臉的美國人

or tax authorities, journalists, civil society

僅僅還沒在這個大爆料、 醜聞裡被點到名。

to really understand what's going on.

並不是因為沒有美國的富人

I also think it's interesting

不斷大量藏匿資產在海外，

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

只是因為境外天地運作的該管道──

And that's perhaps because some prominent US people

莫薩克．馮賽卡有著 較少的美國委託人。

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

我認為如果我們去看來自開曼群島、

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

甚或德拉瓦、懷俄明、 內華達州的洩密案件，

who are stashing their assets offshore.

你會看到多許多的案例 背後牽扯上美國人。

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

事實上美國有幾個州 你只需提供一點點資料，

Mossack Fonseca has fewer American clients.

比申請圖書館證還要少的資料， 你就可以申請到一家公司。

I think if we saw leaks from the Cayman Islands

在美國的這種黑箱已經放任 學區的職員欺詐學生，

or even from Delaware or Wyoming or Nevada,

甚至還放任詐騙集團 詐騙易受騙的投資人。

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

這類行為影響到我們全部人。

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

我們「全球見證」想要知道 在實務面這個到底是什麼樣貌？

you need to provide less information to get a company

這究竟是如何運作的？

than you do to get a library card.

我們當時做的就是 把一名持假身分的調查員

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

送到曼哈頓的13 間律師事務所裡，

to rip off schoolchildren.

我們的調查員喬裝成一名非洲高官，

It has allowed scammers to rip off vulnerable investors.

想把來路不明的資金移到美國的，

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

來購買房子、遊艇、噴射機；

Now, at Global Witness,

讓我們真正震驚的是 所有律師中竟有一位

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

給我們的調查員一個 如何移動這筆資金的建議。

How does this actually work?

這些全都只是初來乍到的會面，

So what we did

而且都沒有律師把我們 視為委託人承接案件，

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

當然也就沒有錢轉手了，

Our investigator posed as an African minister

但是確實顯示出這個體系有了問題。

who wanted to move suspect funds into the United States

同樣重要的是不要把 這件事當成不過就是私人個案，

to buy a house, a yacht, a jet.

這不光是單獨一位律師跟 我們調查員洽談跟給建言有關，

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

也不光是特定的資深政治人物 在醜聞中被抓到了；

provided our investigator with suggestions

這是關於我們的系統如何運行

on how to move those suspect funds.

加深了腐敗、逃漏稅、 貧窮、社會的不安定。

These were all preliminary meetings,

為了解決掉這件事，

and none of the lawyers took us on as a client

我們必須改變遊戲，

and of course no money moved hands,

我們必須改變遊戲規則，

but it really shows the problem with the system.

來讓這種行為更為困難。

It's also important

這看起來好像沒甚麼希望，

to not just think about this as individual cases.

好像我們都沒轍一樣，

This is not just about an individual lawyer

好像沒有事情會改變一樣，

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

好像永遠都會有權貴者在。

It's not just about a particular senior politician

但身為一位天生的樂觀主義者，

who's been caught up in a scandal.

我真的看到了我們正開始要改變。

This is about how a system works,

最近這幾年來

that entrenches corruption, tax evasion, poverty and instability.

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。

And in order to tackle this,

這件事情被英國首相 大衛．卡麥隆

we need to change the game.

在 2013 年北愛爾蘭舉行的 G8 高峰會放在政治議題上。

We need to change the rules of the game

自此歐盟打算建立 國家層級的中央註冊中心，

to make this sort of behavior harder.

說明清楚是誰真正持有、 控制這些歐洲境內的公司。

This may seem like doom and gloom,

但令人難過的事是美國實際上 還在後面托拖拉拉。

like there's nothing we can do about it,

兩黨共推的法案已經 被提案進參、眾兩院，

like nothing has ever changed,

但是並沒有做出我們想要看到的進展。

like there will always be rich and powerful individuals.

所以我們真的很想看到巴拿馬文件，

But as a natural optimist,

被用來作為公佈在美國 和世界各處的黑箱，

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

這個對離岸公司世界的大肆窺探。

Over the last couple of years,

對「全球見證」的我們來說 現在是求取改變的時刻，

we've seen a real push towards greater transparency

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。

when it comes to company ownership.

我們想要商業領袖站出來說：

This issue was put on the political agenda

「這樣做生意的方式是不對的」；

by the UK Prime Minister David Cameron

我們需要政治領袖們體認到這個問題，

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

並承諾修改法律來打開這些黑箱。

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

我們一起來就能終止這個黑箱－

central registers at a national level

目前正放任逃漏稅、貪汙、 洗錢蓬勃滋生。

of who really owns and controls companies across Europe.

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

There's bipartisan legislation that had been introduced

in the House and the Senate,

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

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

this huge peek into the offshore world,

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

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

We need ordinary people to get angry

at the way in which people can hide their identity

behind secret companies.

We need business leaders to stand up and say,

"Secrecy like this is not good for business."

We need political leaders to recognize the problem,

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

Together, we can end the secrecy

that is currently allowing tax evasion,

corruption, money laundering to flourish.