Panama braces for undeserved FATF blackeye

Foreign Minister Erika Moynes, in an interview given to Bloomberg in the framework of the New Economy Gateway Latin America conference held in Panama recently, gave the answer that many of us have wanted to hear in an energetic and constant manner from a government representative writes   Sure Pierpoint Director of the  Liberty Foundation in La Prensa.

When asked about Panama’s international reputation in terms of money laundering, the chancellor replied: “(…) For years, Panama has continued to be designated as a kind of tax haven. Attention is being diverted… A report came out yesterday [ fsi.taxjustice.net] and Panama is not even in the first 15 positions, but I will tell you which countries do top the list of largest tax havens: The United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, all G7 countries. Do you know how many of these countries are gray-listed by financial regulators? None! It is interesting how Panama is blamed when we are not the problem, but other countries that have been singled out for financial secrecy do not suffer consequences”.

Bravo! It is time to take advantage of any forum within our reach to shout it from the rooftops: Look what the frying-pan said to the boiler!

Panama is a small country that has suffered the attacks of the great powers, particularly the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in terms of our fiscal regime and the territoriality of income for the calculation of income taxes. From our special regimes, we take advantage of our geographical position to attract foreign direct investment. These multinational companies, which, attracted by visionary legislation, settle in our country, generating thousands of well-paid jobs for Panamanians, who in turn acquire knowledge and skills, increasing our competitive advantages. In this post-covid era, it becomes even more urgent that public policies be implemented that allow us to recover the employment rates that we enjoyed in 2019.

In its March 2022 report, the FATF gives Panama an ultimatum, demanding compliance with the action plan that expired in January 2021 and “strongly” recommends that Panama show significant progress in completing its action plan by June 2022. , announced as a possible consequence the instruction to its members to apply enhanced due diligence to all relations and transactions with Panama.

With this, FATF once again shows its teeth despite the enormous efforts by multiple administrations to satisfy the requests of the representatives of these multilateral organizations.

June starts this week. These multilateral organizations have already warned us of what is coming our way. Can we expect such an energetic response as the one we heard from the chancellor recently or will we again be at the mercy of the punishments of the multilaterals that see the speck in the other’s eye and not the beam in theirs? We will soon know.