Panama gets Task Force booster

WHILE the  worldwide controversy generated by the Mossack Fonseca revelations  continues, Panama’s government  got a supportive shot in the arm from  the Latin America Financial Action Task Force (GAFILAT),  recognizing  the efforts made by the country on issues of transparency.

A  Task Force statement issued April 18 says: “Recently. Panama has made considerable efforts to improve its AML / CFT system, which included the modification of its legal system, it has been recognized by FATF; It is important to note that these measures will be the subject of the next assessment to be made on that country.
The FATF was sufficiently concerned regarding the serious deficiencies of Panama, which in 2014 was the subject of special scrutiny and publicly listed because of these shortcomings. Since then, the FATF International Cooperation Review Group  conducted a review of the significant actions taken by the Government of Panama to address these deficiencies, among which include:
• Laws to fully criminalize money laundering and terrorist financing, in April 2015;
• Regulations issued in December 2014 to restrict bearer shares, by requiring identification of the final beneficiary of corporations when opening bank accounts;
• Regulations issued in August 2015 to cover 14 sectors including real estate, legal services and money transmitters.