Panama loses voting rights over transparency issue

PANAMA’S voting rights in the International Organization of Securities Commissions) (Iosco), have been suspended over the lack of transparency the lack of transparency in the country.

The Iosco l held its annual conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last week. Juan Manuel Martans representing Panama’s came Securities Market Superintendency , warned on Tuesday, October 7 in the II Financial Forum organized by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives that if action is not taken, the country could be excluded from the organization .
The Iosco reprimand was because the Superintendency of Market Securities has no legal ability to obtain information from banks when this is required by their peers as part of an investigation.
This legal impediment means Panama is not able to sign a memorandum created in 2000 for this purpose. Martans said the danger is that Panama is considered a country not cooperating in world research of stock trading.
Carlos Barsallo, ex-commissioner of Securities, said that access to that information is not only important to for the big picture, but also for local research.
Panama is then on a list of countries in the region such as Costa Rica, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, as well as Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Brunei and the Philippines. “In the list there is no international financial center,” said Barsallo.
The claims of Iosco hit the bank reserve, established by law in Panama.
Oscar Luna, a member of the board of the Banking Association of Panama, said that what is being asked is to raise the bank reserve, which “is not possible in an open way” The banker said that if a client gives permission to the bank, it can transmit the information without violating the reserve rules, and explore alternatives suggested by this route.