Panama to Lead Way in Fight Against Tax Evasion Amid Offshore Leaks

Panama is ready to lead the way in tackling the global issue of tax evasion, Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier this month, the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper exposed the alleged involvement of a number of former and current world leaders and other individuals in offshore schemes by publishing materials it claimed came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm.

"We are willing to accept the responsibility for fixing it [issue of tax evasion], in part because greater transparency is ultimately a continuation of reforms we have recently undertaken. The world must tackle this problem collectively and with urgency, and Panama stands ready to lead the way," Varela wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times newspaper.

Mossack Fonseca has refused to validate the information contained in the leaks and accused reporters of gaining unauthorized access to its proprietary documents. The Panamanian company warned that using unlawfully-obtained data was a crime which it would not hesitate to punish by legal means.

Last week, Varela announced that the country would be creating a special committee to look into the financial policies of the country in the wake of the leak.