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 Prior to the Offshore Leaks, the snippets of information available on offshore companies were largely confined to the outdated online registrars kept by tax havens, as an empty gesture towards transparency.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

Company Name Leaked Registered Country
O.R.C. COMPANY LTD. 26-06-1978
BM
O.R.DE ORIENTAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LIMITED 20-06-1997
HK
O.R.E. INTERNATIONAL SALES, INC. 08-08-1991
BB
O.R.I. (GULF) LIMITED 10-03-1985
BM
O.R.P.M. OUR RECOMMENDATIONS PRINTING MATTER NV 07-01-1994
AW
O.R.S. OIL REFINING TECHNOLOGIES LTD 29-09-2010
CY
O.S. FINANCIAL INC 133983 -SO 04-04-1870
KY
O.S. HOLDINGS LIMITED 30-01-2004
BM
O.S. LAM & COMPANY, LIMITED 30-03-1968
HK
O.S. OILFIELD ENGINEERING & MANAGEMENT SERVICES A.V.V. 11-08-2002
AW
O.S. OPENSHAW LIMITED 06-10-2010
CY
O.S. ORLY SUPPLIES A.V.V. 05-06-1990
AW
O.S. PROPERTIES CO 26-07-1914
KY
O.S. SHIPPING LTD 18-04-1966
KY
O.S.A. CORPORATION LTD 133926 -SO 04-01-1972
KY
O.S.A. KRAUS INDUSTRIES CORPORATION LTD 18-06-2010
CY
O.S.F. FAR EAST ENTERPRISES LIMITED 21-08-1979
HK
O.S.I. (ONE SECURE ISLAND) 30-08-2006
AW
O.S.L. SMART ADDS 28-01-1998
AW
O.S.R. C.P.A. LIMITED 02-06-2003
HK
O.S.S. OVERSEAS LTD. 06-03-1951
KY
O.T. GRECOSOLAR LTD 15-09-2010
CY
O.T.C COMPANY LTD 04-05-1955
KY
O.T.E. CORP 098830 -SO 12-06-1950
KY
O.T.M. & M.T.O. TRADING 22-04-1998
CY
O.T.T. PRODUCTIONS 16-10-2000
CY
O.V. HOLDINGS LTD 135269 -SO 02-11-1941
KY
O.V.& S. DEVELOPMENTS LTD 17-11-2010
CY
O.V.& S. SECRETARIAL LTD 22-12-2009
CY
O.Z.L. CAMPIO LIMITED 22-05-2009
CY
O' NEILL & CHRISTOFIDES BOUTIQUES LTD 30-07-2009
CY
O' NEILL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 06-06-1969
HK
O' S TAVERN BAR & RESTAURANT 01-08-2010
AW
O'CONNELL ASSOCIATES (HK) LIMITED 30-05-1967
HK
O'CONNOR ASSOCIATES (BERMUDA)LTD 28-04-1978
BM
O'DIAMONDS & JEWELS 03-01-2010
AW
O'FRINGUE LIMITEE 19-10-1989
MU
O'HASHI (H.K.) COMPANY LIMITED 06-03-1979
HK
O'HAYON CONSULTANCY SERVICES A.V.V. 04-08-1997
AW
O'LA-LA INVESTMENTS LIMITED 18-11-1903
GI
O'LEARY, RAYMOND 29-09-1989
BM
O'LITE LIMITED 11-09-1979
HK
O'MELI DELIGHT SNACK 11-01-2010
AW
O'MELI DELIGHT SNACK 01-01-2011
AW
O'NEIL, SANCHEZ LTD. 22-10-1976
BM
O'NEILL ENTERPRISES LIMITED 30-01-1963
HK
O'NIEL CARIBBEAN KITCHEN 05-01-2015
AW
O'PLUG INDUSTRIAL CO., LIMITED 11-04-2011
HK
O'RIORDAN MARKETING LTD. 06-06-1984
BM
O'S TAVERN 09-06-2010
AW