Two days after a massive data leak from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca disclosed the investments of the world's rich and powerful in tax havens, the firm has filed a complaint with state prosecutors. Reuters reported that the company has expressly said this was not a leak, but an external hacking. The firm specialises in setting up offshore companies, and Reuters quoted founding member Ramon Fonseca as saying all of the company's work was legal and it had broken no laws. Fonseca called it a “tropical storm” that will pass, and said, “I guarantee you that we will not be found guilty of anything.”

The exposé has left many world leaders and public figures embarrassed, including the Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, who resigned on Monday. Several governments have begun looking into the data, including Pakistan’s after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family were mired in allegations following the leak. India also formed a panel to investigate the matter. Other world leaders affected by the exposé were Russian president Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chinese president Xi Jinping, and Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko. The information from the company was published after an eight-month-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other media organisations across the world.

Reuters reported that France announced it will put Panama on a list of uncooperative tax jurisdictions, after which the Panama government said it will respond similarly to France or any other nation that took such measures against them.