Nine Panama banks hit with sanctions

SANCTIONS ranging from  $6000 to $1.5 milliion have been imposed on nine banks  for breaches of various rules.
The list was released on Friday, January 5 by the Superintendency of Banks.

The banks sanctioned are:  the state ­owned Caja de Ahorros, St. George Bank, Banco Azteca (Panama), Austrobank Overseas (Panama), Banesco, Unibank, Banco Universal, Global Bank and Banco Ficohsa.

The Banking Law empowers the superintendency to impose sanctions.

The current regulator of the system, Ricardo Fernández, said from the beginning of his administration that the sanctions would be published.  “It is relevant to highlight that the sanction imposed on a bank has corrective purposes and publication, reinforces the transparency of the banking system,” the superintendency said.

Some of the sanctions relate to special inspection processes initiated due to corruption cases. The amount and the general concept of the sanction has been made public, but not any specific details.

The superintendency aims to publish sanctions quarterly. The amount of the fine is linked to the severity of the fault, according to established parameters.

“We must emphasize that behind each of these sanctions there is a genuine effort on the part of the bank sanctioned to adopt the necessary corrective measures and to fully comply with the applicable rules,” said the regulator, adding that the publication should not be interpreted as an opinion on the banks that are sanctioned.