Mossack Fonseca - Announcement Regarding Clarification of Media Reports

Mossack Fonseca & Co. wishes to express its position with regard to inaccurate information contained in certain print and online publications. Our firm has been mistakenly connected with matters in which we have no involvement whatsoever.

We clarify that:

Mossack Fonseca is a leading international company with a presence in over 40 countries and with close to 40 years of history in the legal industry. We operate through our own and representative offices. All our offices maintain the highest due diligence standards that comply with all international laws and regulations.
Mossack Fonseca Brazil is an independent entity of Mossack Fonseca & Co. Panama. As an entity, it represents our brand and sells international companies that our group incorporates through the different licenses that we hold in several jurisdictions. That said, our Brazil office operates with its own administration, resources, and staff that are independent of our group.
Information has been required of our Brazil representative office as part of an investigation that the public prosecutor is carrying out in certain cases currently being processed in that country. Our Brazil office has expressed through its legal representatives that it is ready and willing to cooperate with all authorities that request information through the pertinent channels.
The request for acquisition of the company in question was received by an independent intermediary professional, Ademir Auada, who in turn services final clients.
At the time the request for said company incorporation was received (2005), the respective due diligence verification was carried out in compliance with the required standards. As a result of such review, no adverse outcomes or any link whatsoever with politically exposed persons were found.
Mossack Fonseca & Co., like similar companies, renders registered agent services in the various jurisdictions where it incorporates companies upon request by clients. Such service does not represent any business link with the companies so formed, nor does it imply any administrative or fund raising power from clients. By virtue of the provisions set forth in the laws of such jurisdictions, registered agents incur no liability whatsoever for any business activities of the companies that they form.
We have a department that conducts thorough due diligence programs to verify the legitimacy of each of our clients in accordance with the legal standards in force.
The vast majority of our clients are regulated entities, such as premier banks, attorneys, accountants, other law firms, trust companies, etc.―all of them well-known and reputable business companies and firms.
We have not rendered in the past and do not currently render advisory or intermediation services of any kind for the purchase, loan or financing of any real property―nor do we render real property advice in any part of the world, except in regard to real property located within the Republic of Panama.
We are always willing to cooperate with all authorities that require information through legally established channels and in compliance with the requirements of the respective legislation.

As to the other points mentioned in the media, we would further clarify as follows:

Link to companies because of their physical addresses: By law, all Panamanian corporations must have a resident agent that must be an attorney at law or a law firm. All companies incorporated by such resident agents have the physical address of such resident agent’s office.
In Brazil, it is completely legal to incorporate or use offshore companies for any transaction, whether regarding real property or other legal purposes, provided that they comply with all Brazilian laws.

We shall continue on our nearly 40-year path of servicing the international business, banking, legal and financial communities and we shall maintain our resolve to become ever more efficient and useful to the business world.