OPINION: Panama’s reality check

Both the bill that approves the Tax Code and the one that penalizes tax evasion were agreed by the Executive with a group of actors from the local financial industry. Everyone knows that, in the case of the criminalization of evasion, it is one more of the requirements of the member countries of the OECD, which are interested in strengthening the flow of information to them. Internally, the project has detractors, some because they fear that the law could be used as a weapon of political persecution. Others, because they understand that it is an imposition that responds exclusively to external interests. Without going to discuss these arguments, the reality is that the country has few alternatives and less time: the plenary meeting of the FATF will take place next February, and Panama will be subject to evaluation. That is why it is unacceptable that both projects were kidnapped until yesterday by the electoral interests of the deputies. Being classified as a “high risk” jurisdiction is a label that would not only affect the image but could also entail real economic costs. –LA PRENSA, Jan. 17.