Banco Universal could be facing last days

BANCO UNIVERSAL, whose principal shareholder is Felipe Pipo Virzi, one of the Zero (Inner) circle of Panama’s ex-president, Ricardo Martinelli could be facing liquidation.

The bank is under administration, in part, because it failed to freeze accounts linked to Virzi as requested by prosecutors in a corruption allegation. Firzi is currently in detention.
The Superintendency of Banks last week suspended the bank’s operations for 30 days, meaning customers cannot make any transactions. All bank executives have also been suspended.
Jaime de Gamboa Gamboa has been appointed to oversee operations. He has opened an escrow account at the National Bank of Panama to deposit all cash from the bank’s ATMs, as well as the money from the bank’s vaults.
The account will be used to pay wages for the bank workers and to pay creditors.
The administrator will now focus on identifying liabilities and recovering assets. He will then recommend a reorganization or a liquidation of the bank, depending on its condition.
The task for the coming days is to separate the “good bank” from the “bad bank”. In the financial world, this means segmenting easy retrieval assets and liabilities and to try and give them a rating. This would help create two balances, and make a reorganization, feasible.
Conversely, if the diagnosis indicates there are not enough good assets, then a settlement could be recommended.
Sources familiar with the matter have advanced the probability that the “healthy” operation could be sold to another financial group, reports La Prensa.