The papers belonged to Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca and were leaked by a source simply known as “John Doe”. The company denies any wrongdoing.
Last week it issued a “cease and desist” order to prevent the database being made public but the organisation that has the documents, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), went ahead.
The documents have revealed the hidden assets of hundreds of politicians, officials, current and former national leaders, celebrities and sports stars.
The Panama Papers have shown how some wealthy people use offshore firms to evade tax and avoid sanctions.
The Panama Papers affair has widened, with a huge database of documents relating to more than 200,000 offshore accounts posted online.
The database became accessible from 18:00 GMT atoffshoreleaks.icij.org.
