If you haven’t heard, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, suffered a data breach of more than 11 million documents dating back four decades. The firm is well known for establishing secret shell companies for offshore accounts used by world leaders and politicians. So far 140 or so names have been referenced; we are not just talking about corrupt leaders from 3rd world countries.
It appears much of the work Mossack Fonseca conducts is perfectly legal. That is not the problem. It is the money that finds its way into these secret accounts that is troubling. Wide spread fleecing of tax payers and ordinary citizens is so ridiculously obvious by politicians and their close contacts I don’t know how you could deny it. I am not saying every politician’s fortune was ill gotten, but statistically how this group of individuals becomes so filthy rich with a salaried job and doing the “people’s work” doesn’t add up.
The potential fallout from this story could be huge as the world treads water in a sea of debt some of the people mentioned in these documents may have helped create.
Then again, we may be just one Kardashian distraction away from forgetting about the whole thing.
From an investment stand point, I have felt there are some companies that may do a better job of working with government officials than others and as a result may benefit more from policy decisions than their competition. I view it as another form of competition in the area of formulation and execution of government engagement. I believe I have identified such group of companies and they serve as a core investment in some of my strategies. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about these companies.