The French government reported that it removed Guatemala from the list of countries that do not cooperate with the exchange of fiscal information, but kept Panama.
The European country's authorities reported that Guatemala was removed from the list because it ratified the convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
A bill will be presented to the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to require public accountants, auditors, lawyers and notaries to report their transactions.
The bill seeking to broaden the scope of regulated persons’ subject to money laundering control, which will be presented by the Superintendence of Banks (SIB), is aimed primarily at professionals as individuals, but will also include real estate companies, vehicle agencies and casinos.
The bill being discussed in Costa Rica basically seeks to extinguish the assets of organized crime, but there are those who claim that as proposed, it puts at risk the presumption of innocence of individuals.
The extinction of domain is a concept that in practice refers to seizing or confiscating assets linked to criminal activities, and then transferring them in favor of the State.
From May 2019, foreign customers will have to declare to local system banks that their funds meet their country's tax requirements.
The Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) approved Agreement 02-2019, which implements the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, which consists of expanding the required due diligence measures of banks with their customers.
Following the transfer by Abdul Waked of Gese's majority shareholding to Fundación Publicando Historia, the Editorial Group's access restrictions to the United States financial system have been lifted.
From a statement by the US ambassador in Panama:
I and my Embassy colleagues in Panama congratulate all parties involved in the successful effort to reestablish unfettered access to markets and the financial system of the United States on behalf of the newspapers of the La Estrella de Panama and El Siglo Editorial Group (GESE).
Panama and Nicaragua are among the ten countries in Latin America with the highest risk of money laundering, according to the Basel Institute of Governance.
The anti-money laundering index (AML) prepared by the Basel Institute of Governance places Panama in fourth place in the list of countries with the highest risk of money laundering and financing of terrorist activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
...and I will tell you who you are. In their quest to reduce exposure to risk, banking correspondents have started to restrict the services they provide to gambling companies, remittance companies, and brokerage firms that are not related to banking groups in the region.
In order to reduce risk exposure, some international banks with correspondents in Panama and other countries in the region are failing to open accounts for or provide services for companies whose income comes from activities such as remittances and gambling.The banks' argument is that they are more likely to be used for money laundering. Even non-banking brokerage firms claim to have difficulty offering their customers products and services,"... since banks wont open accounts in which customers can deposit their funds and receive a return on their investment."
In the first half of the year, bank transactions totalling $395 million were reported as having characteristics related to money laundering.
The value of transactions reported as suspicious between January and July this year is nearly double that of suspicious transactions in the first half of last year, when $200 million was recorded.
One year after taking control of the Quetzal Container Terminal, the Guatemalan Public Ministry has ordered the end of the intervention process into the company.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that "...The courts´s ruling was issued on Thursday, April 15 after a year and a few days of validity of the measure for the TCQ, a company which in the opinion of the prosecutors office was constituted in 2012 as an emerging corporation "to simulate a contract of usufruct" with the state-owned Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (EPQ)."
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed."
Costa Rica 's estimated illicit financial flow averages 45% of its total foreign trade, and the incoming amount is 2.5%; For El Salvador these figures are 9% and 7.5%, for Guatemala 9% and 1.5%, for Honduras 31% and 28%, for Nicaragua 13% and 9%, and for Panama 16% and 307%.
A report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) entitled "Illicit Financial Flows to and from Developing Countries: 2005-2014" concludes that the illicit flow of money to and from developing countries remains at high levels.The purpose of the report is to quantify those illicit financial flows that represent a serious disadvantage to economic development.
The housing market, casinos, concert halls, and the livestock sector are all used to launder money in Central American countries.
Excerpted from the report "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes" by the US State Department:
Costa Rica Transnational criminal organizations continue to favor Costa Rica as a base to commit financial crimes due to its location and limited enforcement capability. Costa Rica’s government has attempted to strengthen the legal framework for supervision and enforcement; however, challenges remain in mitigating money laundering risks. Costa Rica is a transit point that is also increasingly used as an operations base for narcotics trafficking; and significant laundering of proceeds from illicit activities continues. Costa Rica should continue to close financial crimes legislative gaps and allocate resources for investigation and prosecution.
In February a law comes into force authorizing the lifting of bank secrecy of companies and individuals with a court order at the request of tax authorities.
Banks are preparing for the entry into force of legislation in February, modifying their processes in order to respond more quickly to requests from the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT).
Last year 1,533 banking operations were reported to have characteristics signalling them as possibly relating to money laundering.
Greater emphasis on controls on transactions carried out by banks is the main reason why the number of transactions reported as unusual has increased.Of the 1,533 transactions reported last year, 89 ended in complaints to the public prosecutor.
Gafilat has identified the outstanding tasks needed to bring up to date matters relating to financing terrorism, control of casinos and the inclusion of lawyers in the Mandated Persons category.
The ruling was made by the Financial Action Task Force for Latin America (Gafilat), who released the Mutual Evaluation Report, up to the date of the in situ visit made between November 23 and December 4, 2015.