Offshore A-Z is a digital repository of companies operating across major tax havens. Offshore A-Z exploits the inscrutability of such companies to speculate on their possible nature and intent. Each company listed on here is real, but the information surrounding these consist of both actual records, obtained by dmstfctn, and speculative images and mission statements, generated by algorithms.

Tax havens, or secrecy jurisdictions, employ laws and corporate regulations different from those of most jurisdictions, using secrecy as a prime tool. Furthermore, the agents operating offshore on behalf of clients elsewhere have been observed by dmstfctn to willfully introduce mistakes in the records held on the companies they help forming. (Offshore Investigation Vehicle)

When offshore companies are but a bundle of papers held in private storages, these practices contribute to a number of possible configurations of any given offshore company, whose records are at once factually correct and conveniently flawed.

Offshore A-Z plays with the idea that truth is not one nor static, and that it does not need to be upheld equally at all times or in all fora.

Obtaining the data

The data contained within Offshore A-Z comes from a number of sources. Prior to the Offshore Leaks, the snippets of information available on offshore companies were largely confined to the outdated online registrars kept by tax havens, as an empty gesture towards transparency. Employing data scraping techniques, dmstfctn extracted records on hundreds of thousands of companies appearing in a number of such registrars.

Yielding varying amounts of information, and naturally full of gaps - sometimes full company details and descriptions, sometimes little more than a name - the records were cross referenced with data from the ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks as well as Financial Secrecy Index scores from the Tax Justice Network, and compiled into a single searchable database.

Training the algorithms

Algorithms were then trained to fill in the gaps in information. Using keywords from the company’s records as a trigger, the algorithms associate images with each nondescript company and complete missing fields by guessing possible incorporation dates or by generating corporate mission statement via a simple neural network. The coherency and accuracy of the neural network is directly undermined by the opaque source material, or incomplete input records. Finally, companies previously named in the Offshore Leaks ( for example) are hyperlinked to the relevant entry on the ICIJ database, allowing user to investigate further.

Compiling the template

The resulting information is autonomously built into a Web 2.0 page, employing a visual grammar similar to that used by existing registrars of companies. However, under intense scrutiny, the template mealts away revealing warm hues and floating forms.

This cycle of actions is repeated for each unreleased company found in the database and publicly announced by a Twitter bot.

Zooming in

Among the companies listed on the Offshore A-Z, a few appearing to be embedded in complex offshore vehicles were further investigated, resulting in three stories focusing on the funding behind Leave.EU, the corporate tax-avoidance of Barclays and the colonial origins of HSBC.

Offshore A-Z is a project by dmstfctn.

RED TAG N.V.

Company Name RED TAG N.V.
Date of Registration 6th March 1999
Company Objective 1A. THE EXPLOIT OF ONE OR MORE KNOWN AS STORES;
B.The ON AND SELLING THEM IN ALL ELIGIBLE KOOPMANS PRODUCTS, ESPECIALLY BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
. BLEACH AND OTHER WASHING, cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations, soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, dentifrices;
. NON, weak AND STRONG ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, WINE AND CHAMPAGNE, CHOCOLATE; CHEESE; SOAP AND FOOD TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOREGOING VERNUNNINGSVERORDENING;
. LINGERIE, baby, children, women's and men, HATS AND HATS, HANDBAGS, GLOVES, BAGS, BELTS, LEATHER GOODS, FOOTWEAR, shoe RESOURCES, curtains and TEXTILES AND -were;
. BRUSH WORK LINEN GOODS, CARPETS, Rugs, WALLPAPER, FURNITURE;
. TOILET SUPPLIES, tobacco and SMOKING ARTICLES, sewing kit, KITCHEN EQUIPMENT, UTENSILS, PLATE, PLAYING, WRITING, bird feed, INSECTICIDE BATTERIES;
. JEWELRY, JEWELRY, JEWELLERY, GLASSES, souvenirs, gift items, clocks and watches, GLASSWARE, PLAY PRODUCTS;
. OFFICE AND STORE BUYERS, BOOKS, MAGAZINES, DAY, weeklies and monthlies, hosiery;
. OPERATING AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT;
. PLANTS, FLOWERS, EARTH GARDEN TOOLS - AND ALL KINDS OF PRODUCTS USED TO BE ON AND FOR THE GARDEN;
. BULBS, LIGHT AND ARTICLES midday, LAMP CAPS, VARIOUS TYPES OF LIGHTS BOTH INSIDE AND OUTDOOR;
.SCHOONMAAKMIDDELEN INSECTICIDES AND BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE AND FOR;
. PAPER AND PLASTIQUEWAREN; CARTON WERE;
. CAMARA'S; PHOTO ARTICLES AND DEVICES FOR DEVELOPING PHOTOS;
. THE DUPLICATE AND AGAIN MAKING KEYS;
B. THE AGENCIES INTRODUCE THE ABOVE ARTICLES;
C.HET CONTINUING AN EXISTING ONE-MAN CASE, TO DATE DRIVEN UNDER THE NAME 'RED TAG' ALL THE FOREGOING, TO THE FULLEST MEANING OF THE WORD
2 UNDER THE AIM OF THE COMPANY IS ALSO INCLUDED THE FOUNDING AND ACQUISITION OF.. THE PARTICIPATING IN THE BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHICH THE COMPANY IS CONNECTED TO A GROUP, AND THE (DO) fINANCE EVEN THROUGH THE PROVISION OF sECURITIES, INCLUDING THE IS jOINTLY LIABLE FOR ITS AFFILIATES AND / OR OTHER COMPANIES IN WHICH THE COMPANY IS CONNECTED A GROUP;.
3 WITHIN ITS PURPOSE, THE COMPANY all that PROVIDE WHAT CONNECTION WITH THIS OBJECTIVE TO THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR BOTH THEIR OWN ACCOUNT AND ON BEHALF OF THIRD PARTIES.
Country
aruba
Financial Secrecy Index [more info] 68
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