Panama is fighting off a feared international crackdown on its pivotal finance sector, calling for talks to calm a worldwide storm sparked by revelations of its role in a mass of secretive offshore dealings.

The small Central American nation launched the fierce rearguard action after a huge leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the so-called Panama Papers, exposed the confidential dealings of world leaders, celebrities and sports stars.

The revelations have toppled Iceland’s prime minister, led to a Swiss police raid on the headquarters of European football body UEFA, and prompted media allegations against the inner circles of both the Russian and Chinese presidents.

Faced by accusations that Panama has allowed the rich and powerful to hide their funds from international tax authorities and the law, President Juan Carlos Varela vowed to “confront whoever comes to put down Panama’s image”.

“I call on the OECD countries to return to the table for dialogue and seek agreements, and to not use these events to affect Panama’s image,” said Varela, whose country depends on the finance sector for seven percent of its economic output.

There was no immediate reaction to Varela’s comment from the Paris-based, 34-nation Organisation for Economic Coooperation and Development, which helps to coordinate the global fight against tax evasion.

Panama has already warned it could retaliate against France if it makes good on a promise to put the country back on France’s blacklist of “tax havens” — a status that would cause transactions in Panama to be viewed as likely tax-dodging gambits.

The Panama government has also written a complaint to the head of the OECD, Angel Gurria, attacking a statement he made describing Panama as “the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities.”

Those accusations were false, “unfair and discriminatory” Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapie wrote in the letter which was obtained by AFP.

The embattled world of football was the latest victim of the leaked papers, which were obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with more than 100 media groups through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

After a year-long investigation into the papers, which come from around 214,000 offshore entities and cover almost 40 years, the first wave of revelations was published Sunday, detailing the hidden financial activities of 140 political figures.

Swiss police yesterday searched UEFA’s Geneva offices as part of a probe into a Champions League television rights deal signed by Gianni Infantino before he became the president of world football’s governing body.

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