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Panama moves to boost transparency amid documents leak

Panama's government is creating an international committee of experts to recommend ways to boost transparency in the Central American country's offshore financial industry.

President Juan Carlos Varela is trying to shore up confidence in his nation's financial sector after the leaking of 11.5 million documents from a prominent Panama-based law firm which helped create shell companies for the world's rich and famous.

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Panama Papers 'will not be made public in full'

The newspaper in Germany which first got hold of the leaked 'Panama Papers' has said it will not make all the files public as it would not be in the public interest.

A protest in Iceland following the release of the so-called Panama Papers Credit: Reuters

Sueddeutsche Zeitung was sent the documents - a huge collection of data relating to offshore companies - more than a year ago from an anonymous source.

Leading politicians, celebrities and business chiefs have been named in media reports since, prompting public protests, investigations and the resignation of Iceland's prime minister.

The complete set of 11.5 million documents "won't be made available to the public or to law enforcement agencies", the paper said, adding: "That's because the SZ isn't the extended arm of prosecutors or the tax investigators."

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