Lunch with Honors | The Panama Papers: Leaks, Hacks, and Investigative Journalism

Bastian Obermayer is the reporter initially contacted by the anonymous source of the Panama Papers, 11.5 million leaked documents that provide detailed financial information about 214,488 offshore accounts. The anonymous whistleblower cited income inequality, fraud, kleptocracy, and tax evasion as motivations for the leak. Mr. Obermayer will offer a question and answer session about the history and significance of the Panama Papers leak as well as a discussion of the ethical obligations of journalists in handling anonymous sources of information

Bastian Obermayer is deputy head of the investigative unit for Süddeutsche Zeitung, the largest national daily subscription newspaper in Germany. In 2005, Obermayer began working for the SZ-Magazin, the weekly publication of Süddeutsche Zeitung, specializing in long-form and investigative journalism. In 2012, he transferred to the daily newspaper where he coordinated the work of the team that investigated Offshore Leaks, Luxembourg Leaks and Swiss Leaks. He has received numerous honors for his work, including the Theodor-Wolff-Prize, the Henri-Nannen-Prize, the Helmut-Schmidt-Prize and the Waechter-Prize. Obermayer is the author of several books, the latest of which is the story of the Panama Papers. It was translated in 14 languages and is available in English from Oneworld Publishing: "The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money."