Panama - Conversion and Transfer PoliciesPanama - Conversion Policy
Foreign Exchange
Panama’s official currency is the U.S. Dollar.
Remittance Policies
Panama’s strategic geographic location, dollarized economy, status as a regional financial, trade, and logistics center, and lax regulatory system make it an attractive target for money launderers. Money laundered in Panama is believed to come in large part from the proceeds of drug trafficking. Tax evasion, bank fraud, and corruption are also believed to be major sources of illicit funds. Money is often laundered via bulk cash and trade by exploiting vulnerabilities at the airport, utilizing free trade zones (FTZs), and exploiting the lack of regulatory monitoring in many sectors of the economy.
Panama’s history of client secrecy and its developed offshore banking and corporate services sector was exposed in April 2016 when one of its top law firms was the target of a massive hack and data dump. This occurred just after Panama was removed from FATF’s Grey List in recognition of a number of steps it had taken to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime, to include eliminating the use of bearer shares, passing strong AML legislation in 2015 and constituting an empowered and capable Financial Intelligence Unit (Unidad de Analysis Financiero).
Panama strengthened its legal framework, amended its criminal code, harmonized legislation with international standards, and passed a new AML/CFT law and other legislation enhancing the framework for international cooperation and expanding the number of entities and transactions affected by suspicious activity reporting Panama is developing a framework for freezing terrorist assets and customer due diligence regulations. Panama’s financial intelligence unit has also significantly improved its analytic capacity. Panama enacted law 18 2015 to eliminate bearer shares in an effort to comply with OECD requirements.
The judicial branch’s capacity to successfully prosecute and convict money launderers remains weak, and judges remain susceptible to corruption. The transition to a U.S.-style accusatory judicial system, which began in September 2010, is expected to be implemented in all the provinces by 2016. To date, all known money-laundering convictions are tied to bulk cash cases with an obvious connection to a predicate crime. Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.
Panama’s official currency is the U.S. Dollar.
Remittance Policies
Panama’s strategic geographic location, dollarized economy, status as a regional financial, trade, and logistics center, and lax regulatory system make it an attractive target for money launderers. Money laundered in Panama is believed to come in large part from the proceeds of drug trafficking. Tax evasion, bank fraud, and corruption are also believed to be major sources of illicit funds. Money is often laundered via bulk cash and trade by exploiting vulnerabilities at the airport, utilizing free trade zones (FTZs), and exploiting the lack of regulatory monitoring in many sectors of the economy.
Panama’s history of client secrecy and its developed offshore banking and corporate services sector was exposed in April 2016 when one of its top law firms was the target of a massive hack and data dump. This occurred just after Panama was removed from FATF’s Grey List in recognition of a number of steps it had taken to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime, to include eliminating the use of bearer shares, passing strong AML legislation in 2015 and constituting an empowered and capable Financial Intelligence Unit (Unidad de Analysis Financiero).
Panama strengthened its legal framework, amended its criminal code, harmonized legislation with international standards, and passed a new AML/CFT law and other legislation enhancing the framework for international cooperation and expanding the number of entities and transactions affected by suspicious activity reporting Panama is developing a framework for freezing terrorist assets and customer due diligence regulations. Panama’s financial intelligence unit has also significantly improved its analytic capacity. Panama enacted law 18 2015 to eliminate bearer shares in an effort to comply with OECD requirements.
The judicial branch’s capacity to successfully prosecute and convict money launderers remains weak, and judges remain susceptible to corruption. The transition to a U.S.-style accusatory judicial system, which began in September 2010, is expected to be implemented in all the provinces by 2016. To date, all known money-laundering convictions are tied to bulk cash cases with an obvious connection to a predicate crime. Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.