What is ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database?
The Offshore Leaks Database is published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It lets anyone search more than 810,000 offshore companies, foundations and trusts and the more than 750,000 people and companies linked to them, drawn from five investigations: Offshore Leaks, the Panama Papers, Bahamas Leaks, the Paradise Papers and the Pandora Papers. The records span more than 80 years, up to 2020, and connect to more than 200 countries and territories.
Results show entities, officers, intermediaries and addresses, and how they are linked. The database covers structured data only: ICIJ leaves out raw documents, bank accounts, email exchanges, financial transactions and bulk personal information. ICIJ also notes that there are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts, and that a name in the database does not suggest wrongdoing. The data can be downloaded and is published under the Open Database License.
Main Features
- Search by name, jurisdiction or location across five major leak investigations
- Entity pages linking offshore companies to officers, intermediaries and addresses
- Browse by investigation, from Offshore Leaks to the Pandora Papers
- Coverage of more than 200 countries and territories
- Free download of the raw database
- REST API and a Reconciliation API for matching names against the data
- Open Database License, with attribution to ICIJ
How to Get Started with ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database
- Go to offshoreleaks.icij.org and type a company name, jurisdiction or place into the search box.
- Filter results by investigation, country or type of record.
- Open an entity to see its officers, intermediary and connected addresses.
- Read ICIJ's notes on the data and the original reporting before drawing conclusions from a match.
ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database Pricing
The Offshore Leaks Database is free to search and to download. The data is licensed under the Open Database License and the contents under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence, and users must cite the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Who Should Use It?
- Journalists following up on the Panama, Paradise and Pandora Papers
- Due diligence and compliance teams checking offshore links
- Researchers studying offshore finance and tax havens
- NGOs and anti-corruption groups investigating hidden ownership
- Data analysts reconciling their own lists against leak data
ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database Alternatives
- OCCRP Aleph: OCCRP's investigative data platform covering company registries, leaks, court records and more.
- OpenCorporates: an open database of company records from more than 140 government registries.
- LittleSis: a free database of connections between powerful people and organisations in business and government.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database free?
Yes. The database is free to search and the raw data is free to download. It is published under the Open Database License, and you need to credit the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists when you use it.
Does appearing in the Offshore Leaks Database mean someone did something wrong?
No. ICIJ points out that many offshore companies and trusts are used for legal purposes. The database is a starting point for research, so treat a match as a lead to verify against other records and ICIJ's own reporting, not as evidence of wrongdoing.
Does the database include the leaked documents?
No. It contains structured data about entities, officers, intermediaries and addresses. ICIJ does not publish the raw documents, bank account details, emails, financial transactions or bulk personal information from the leaks.