OPINION: Seeking transparency in murky financial sector

THE FINACIAL sector is one of the most important segments of the economy and has enormous potential for development.

The cases of the Savings Bank (Caha de Ahorros), Financial Pacific, La Generosa and the like are manifestations that should strengthen the institution of regulators, and address the lack of transparency that still affects the Panamanian market.

For all this, they deserve to be highlighted recent efforts to provide the country with better regulation to combat asset laundering and strengthen the institutions that should supervise and monitor the financial services industry.

Panama has conducted important reforms, such as facilitating the exchange of tax information, the requirement of accounting records for corporations operating abroad, and the signing of the multilateral agreement of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for  transparency in this sector .

We must all be vigilant of the behavior of players in this arena.

What is at stake is the reputation of the country and the source of income for thousands of people. Only integrity and transparency can ensure the prosperity of this industry.