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 Prior to the Offshore Leaks, the snippets of information available on offshore companies were largely confined to the outdated online registrars kept by tax havens, as an empty gesture towards transparency.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.

THE KING DOUBLE DECKER BOUTIQUE

Company Name THE KING DOUBLE DECKER BOUTIQUE
Date of Registration 2nd September 2015
Company Objective 1.    To trade (in its own name and on its own behalf) in - including the retail, wholesale, transit, agency and commission trade - and the import, export, rent, lease and maintenance of all relevant movable and immovable goods and properties and if applicable of rights hereon, in particular but not limited to:
    a.    clothing, hats, bags, gloves, bags, belts, leather goods, footwear, lingerie, jewelry, ornaments, glasses, souvenirs, gift items, clocks and watches, glassware, toys, shoe cleaning products, travel accessories, textiles and textile articles;
    b.    brushes, canvas goods, embroidered products, draperies, carpets, rugs, curtains, wallpapers and fabrics;
    c.    restroom supplies, sewing kits, kitchen utensils, cookware, tableware, playing cards, stationery, batteries;
    d.    office and store supplies, books, magazines, daily, weekly and monthly magazines, school materials and supplies;
    e.    household appliances and articles, electrical and electronic equipment, including radios, televisions, home theater systems, DVD players, DVDs, CDs, dish antennas, musical instruments, telephones, cellular phones, phone cards, vacuum cleaners, dryers, calculators and typewriters , video and air cooling equipment, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, stoves, clocks, shaving machines and everything related hereto;
    f.    plants, flowers, earth, garden tools and all kinds of items used in and for the garden;
    g.    light bulbs, lighting and neon items, lampshades, all kinds of lamps for both indoor and outdoor lighting;
    h.    paper and plastic goods, cardboard and cardboard items;
    i.    cameras, photo products and devices, chemicals and materials for developing photographs;
    j.    home and office furniture, office equipment, lights, ceiling and wall decorations, carvings and other decor items;
    k.    stainless steel products, plates, cutlery, kitchen utensils and other products for restaurants, hotels and other catering establishments;
    l.    building materials and tools, paint products, hardware, wood, tiles and items usually sold in hardware stores;
    m.    new and used ships, boats and other vessels, cars and other vehicles and engines, parts and accessories therefor;
    n.    auto parts and auto accessories, oil and paint, bicycles, car and bicycle tires, maintenance and repair supplies;
    o. sports equipment and supplies;
    p.    bleaching and other detergents, cleaning agents, cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations, insecticides, soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions and dentifrices;
    q.    food and food products, meat and meat products, fish and fish products, fruits and vegetables, non alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, wines, beers and champagne, chocolate, cheese, pet food, tobacco and smoking articles;
    r.    the manufacturing, processing and packaging of the products referred to under q.;
    s.    the activities regarding that which is listed under q. and r. will take place insofar as needed in accordance with the provisions of the License Ordinance and of the State Ordinance on distilleries;
2.     To exploit and/or conduct (in its own name and on its own behalf,) businesses of restaurants, kitchens and caterings, in the broadest sense of the word.
3.    To build, design, renovate and operate one or more restaurants, bars, eateries, cafeterias, coffee shops, discos and dancings, nightclubs.
4.    To trade -including as a wholesaler, retailer, agency, or commission-based agent- in, to import and export, in the broadest sense of the word, food products, dairy products, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, meat and meat products, grocery items, plates, (silver) cutlery, plastic and glass products, aluminum products, all products belonging to the personal hygiene and products related hereto; all this to the extent related to the activities stated above.
5.    To acquire, have, design, operate, manage and lease one or more stores and businesses for the purpose of selling the aforementioned items and products, whether or not they are eaten inside the business establishments.
6.    To trade -including as a wholesaler, retailer, agency, or commission-based agent- in, to import and export kitchen, restaurant and catering necessities, in the broadest sense of the word, including without being limited to, machines, equipment and accessories, all this to the extent related to the activities stated above.
7.    To do anything, in the broadest sense of the word, related to the business of entertainment, including without being limited to, the hiring of musicians and artists, general productions and promotion of events, and to supervise events, all this to the extent related to the activities stated above.
8.    To trade in all kinds of decorations, gift and souvenir items such as but not limited to: T-shirts, swim, recreational, sportswear and articles belonging hereto, in short, all those goods and articles commonly sold in souvenir shops, all this to the extent related to the activities stated above.
9.    To provide all types of services in any way related to the abovementioned, recreation in general and/or focused on the promotion of touristic visits to Aruba.
10.    The abovementioned shall take place insofar as allowed by the License Ordinance.
11.    To invest its capital in securities, such as shares and other certificates of participation, bonds and other interest-bearing claims, under whatever name and in whatever form.
12.    To acquire, possess, alienate, administer and develop movable property and real estate, as well as to acquire, possess, alienate and administer rights and interests related to movable property and real estate.
13.    To lease, lease out, sublease, mortgage or otherwise establish security rights on movable property and real estate or on rights and interests related to movable property and real estate.
14.    To provide surety and other guarantees and to transfer the ownership of assets, whether or not to a fiduciary or a trustee or to mortgage or pledge assets or encumber them otherwise, all this as security for the payment of the debts of the company and the debts of other legal entities or natural persons directly or indirectly affiliated with the company, whether or not in exchange for a consideration.
15.    To make full or partial pension provisions in favor of employees or former employees of the company and/or their surviving relatives.
16.    To participate in, support or have any sort of interest in or to manage or act as a representative of other enterprises with a similar or related purpose; all this provided the company does not violate the State Ordinance on the Supervision of Trust Service Providers.
17.    To carry out any activity and perform any act that is related to or may be conducive to the above mentioned in the widest sense of the word.
18.    The above shall occur to the extent allowed under and subject to the provisions laid down by or under the relevant statutory regulations.
Country
aruba
Financial Secrecy Index [more info] 68
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