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 Prior to the Offshore Leaks, the snippets of information available on offshore companies were largely confined to the outdated online registrars kept by tax havens, as an empty gesture towards transparency.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

Q-SAFE SAFETY & SECURITY MANAGEMENT

Company Name Q-SAFE SAFETY & SECURITY MANAGEMENT
Date of Registration 21st September 2015
Company Objective 1.     The providing services, giving advice, training and courses in the area of ​​'safety' and (industrial) safety that meet the standards of the "Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the broadest sense in respect of, inter alia, without limitation, refineries, industries, chemical, petrochemical and energy provoking companies, factories, facilities / buildings, banks, commercial buildings, hotels, shops, homes, aerospace and (private) events , by offering include but are not limited to, fire protection services, specialized security personnel, "environment, health and safety (EHS) services, safety oversight 'turnarounds', prevention and protection services, rescue services, emergency response services, material management services sale and rental of safety equipment (including fireproof clothing), equipment and tools
2 import     The and marketing of all those articles, materials and products needed to realize the goal of the company..;
3.     The acquire, have, (have) set up, (do) operate, (do) administer and rent one or more stores or companies in which the exercise of bovenbedoelde work required parts, products, materials, tools and instruments are traded;
4.     The exercise a security and surveillance company in the broadest sense.
5. Install     The, repair or otherwise make, sell and maintain alarm systems.
6.     The providing services in the field of security and monitoring by means of, among others, but are not limited to, the provision of guards (security guards), both at the post as well as in a surveillance diagram, the provision of door services, providing guidance for heavy transport over the roads, the provision of cleaners for damage sensitive areas or spaces, providing services in the field of money and valuable freight.
7.     The own account, on behalf or in cooperation with other companies, operating an electronic alarm system.
8.     The wholesale, retail, agenturen-, commissions, import and export trade in cabling and wiring to include network alarm systems and other security devices such as alarms, special building hardware items and other collateral-related articles and products and installation and maintain them.
9.     The providing advice in the field of injury prevention in the broadest sense, including defined below without being limited thereto, burglary, robbery, theft and fire.
10.     The grant all services, related in any way with injury prevention.
11.     The invest its assets in securities such as shares and other securities in respect of bonds and other interest-bearing receivables, under any name and in any form.
12. Acquire     The, possess, alienate, management and development of movable and immovable property as well as the acquisition, possession, transfer and management of rights and interests relating to movable and immovable property.
13.     The rent, lease, sublease, providing mortgage or otherwise of security rights in movable and immovable property or related rights and interests.
14.     The setting bail and other guarantees and transferring ownership whether or not in fiduciary or trust or mortgage, pledge or otherwise encumber assets, all this as security for the payment of the debts of the company and the debts of third parties, whether in return contraprestatie.
15.     The complete or partial structure of pension provisions for directors, former directors, shareholders, former shareholders and / or their survivors.
16     The continue the passionate man business' QSS (QUALITY SAFETY & SECURITY) MANAGEMENT "by the person appearing for their own account
17     The conduct participate in and management of other companies or companies regardless of their purpose,... A and insofar as the company is not in breach of the State Ordinance on the supervision of trust offices.
18. performing all operations related to the above, all in the broadest sense.
19. the above will where necessary take into account any the provisions of the relevant legislation.
Country
aruba
Financial Secrecy Index [more info] 68
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