Open secrets

[First paragraph] In the days preceding the final preparations of this open issue, something happened. On 3 April 2016, details concerning Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and its client list were leaked via several journalists and global news services, centring on the firm’s documented role in providing offshore incorporation and wealth management services to a number of high profile clients. Journalists at the Washington Post, Fox News, The Guardian and elsewhere, were quick to label this as a scandal, with Washington Post claiming it as ‘the biggest global corruption scandal in history’ (Drezner, 2016). Hyperbole aside, this development was intriguing, particularly as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) anticipated an imminent full release of the companies involved in the alleged tax evasion and money laundering schemes developed for clients. These events, and other stories like this, highlight the secrecy and opacity of corporate arrangements, as identified by the first of no doubt many organisational theorists to comment on the breaking story.