Panama passes financial transparency probe

A DELEGATION from the Global Forum on Financial Transparency completed a check on  Panama’s exchange of financial information with  countries with which it has agreements, with no major complaints.

The delegation consisted  two members of the Secretariat of the Global Forum and representatives of South Africa and the United Kingdom.

They  visited the General Directorate of Revenue, the Superintendency of Banks and the Public Registry.

Last October, the Global Forum determined that the legal framework of Panama was suitable for the exchange of information upon request. This meant that the country moved forward from phase I of the revision – which analyzed the adequacy of the legal framework – to phase II, which shows the practical application of the framework.

Panama has agreements to exchange information with 29 countries.

Last December, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said that the cooperation of Panama was not satisfactory. However, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said that Panama had responded to 30 of 32 requests for information submitted by France, and responded to the other two requests in January.

Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapié told La Prensa  that there was no major complaints from the team and that “Panama showed that the legal framework is in compliance with international expectations in transparency.”