Putting the Panama Papers in perspective

THESE days, it seems no two words can conjure up perceptions of malfeasance, tax dodging, money laundering or fraud better than "offshore companies".

Suitably piqued, many in Singapore combed the online searchable database released last week from the confidential documents dubbed the "Panama Papers", expecting familiar names to jump out on their screens.

Within the over 360,000 names of people and corporations behind secret offshore structures across 21 jurisdictions, a search by country yielded 5,869 offs…