Panama Offshore Banking: Asset & Privacy Protection
Panama City is one of the little know jewels of Central America. The skyline of Panama is literally dotted with enough skyscrapers and bank towers that you would think you were in London or New York city. More importantly, these banking institutions are currently enjoying a renewed interest from foreign investors since they have one of the most stable, secure and private offshore banking industries in the world.
Panama’s offshore banking success story can be attributed to the fact that the United States removed Panama from the uncooperative tax haven list after Panama overhauled it’s banking standards and regulation to help the international community root out serious criminals such as drug traffickers.
Panama has taken the gauntlet and run with it by supporting both the FATF and OECD doctrines. These measures were enacted by the international community that is concerned with money laundering, terrorist financing and drug trafficking offenses. A crack down on this type of activity was to be expected after 9 / 11 and Panama and it’s banks made the right steps to ensure their place in the international offshore banking community has been protected.
Just as the practice occurs in the United States, it has become common practice in Panama to put tighter controls on banks so that they now are reporting all deposits and withdrawals in amounts exceeding $10,000. This control was also implemented as a direct result of the FATF and OECD movements as well. Panama has been removed from the non-cooperative tax haven list and is reaping the rewards.
Panama knew that the offshore banking business would grind to a halt if they did not take steps to combat international criminals. With over 80 large international banks operating here it controlling billions of dollars in assets Panama had a responsibility to adhere to these new rules and have done a great job of doing that while still attracting new offshore banking clients.
These are areas where banking in Panama has shown the most improvement and that improvement continues today. Despite these measures though, the offshore banking community can still take advantage of the privacy protection that the Panamanian jurisdiction provides.
In the end it’s the customers of Panama’s offshore banking system that will reap the rewards of their cleanup activities. With an improved reputation and tighter controls this means transactions coming out of Panama will not receive the same level of scrutiny they would if Panama had not taken the steps that were taken. As an offshore banking customer in Panama you will no longer have to worry about your money being incorrectly flagged by the international community monitoring for illicit activity since they know Panama is really screening their banking customers now instead of accepting money from anyone.
The government of Panama and Panama’s banking industry are working together and know the value a good reputation has in the international community. There are literally billions of dollars at stake to maintain this position and Panama bankers will not accept clients that will do anything to draw attention to the nice little system they have created for their customers. Criminals stay away.