The Superintendency of Securities may provide access to bank information when investigations because of breaches are carried out in the stock market.
The decree took effect on December 17, 2016, and states that when the Superintendency of Securities (SMV) requires information on bank depositors and liabilities, this will be requested through the Superintendency of Banksof Panama. In addition, the two regulators signed a memorandum of understandingto facilitate exchange of information.
The failure of polls on the presidential election in the US shows that in order to get the right information, data must be collected and analyzed with scientific rigor, free from any bias caused by the personal interest of pollsters and analysts.
EDITORIAL
Only 1 out of the 20 main pollsters, newspapers and television stations in the United States who possessed all the tools needed to properly manage the demographic data and surveys, was right in indicating who the next president would be.
State officials do not own the information they manage, and when that information has not been legally declared as reserved, they must ensure its availability to the public.
EDITORIAL
And 'availability´means that public institutions must have all the doors to obtain it wide open, both administratively and technically.
State officials often create administrative barriers to free access to public information, in the form of lengthy bureaucratic processes, including sometimes filling out forms that include insidious questions about what the information will be used for.
The delay in publication of the database obtained from the Survey on Living Standards in Nicaragua in 2014 is another example of the difficulty in accessing and viewing in timely manner information which is in the hands of state officials.
Being informed is essential for decision-making in any aspect of life, especially in the field of business. However, it is a common problem in the region to find serious resistance in many state offices to deliver information that, if it´s disclosure is not specifically prohibited by law, should be available to the public.
Many of the officials working in Central American governments are annoyed at the idea of the information they handle being accessible to citizens, and one way or another, they are impeding its availability.
EDITORIAL
"- Send a letter to Mrs Fulana, the person in charge of authorizing the release of information you have requested, stating the reasons for your request".
The Securities Commission of British Columbia in Canada, has issued a resolution barring the two top executives of Petaquilla from trading shares of the company until financial information is presented for the period ending July 2014.
Problems continue for Petaquilla Minerals, which breached a salary payment arrangement that should have been finalized in October and it has now been reported that two of its executives have been banned from buying or selling shares in the company.
Panama is the only country in the region which has improved considerably in the use of information technology in the last year.
Investments in the field of information technology have resulted in more and better use of these IT services in Panama, which has improved its overall position in the use of technology, according to the Information Technology 2014 report, prepared by the World Economic Forum World.
With European assistance, Panamanians will have access to government services online for free, through 200 interactive kiosks connected to the ‘Paperless Panama’ program.
A statement by the Presidency of Panama reads:
Panama Foundation signs technology agreement with European Foundation
The Foreign Ministry of the Republic and the European Foundation for Information Society and eGovernment have signed an agreement which will make Panama the first country in Latin America to offer online government services for free to the public.
In the next few weeks, more than one hundred public procedures, will be available online.
Some of the procedures that will be available are: the acquisition of Paz and Salvo at the Social Security Fund, request for criminal records, quering IDAAN balances, the Digital Passport System, the program ‘100 a los 70’, and consultation and payment of traffic tickets.
The "Paperless Panama" project, worth $25 million, will be put out to tender on Thursday August 4.
Eduardo Jaen, manager of the Government Innovation Authority, said that they will be contracting out the first stage of the project, worth $12.5 million, adding that the award will go to the bidder with the lowest price.
The initiative seeks to create business systems that will interconnect all state databases, simplifying procedures and avoiding the need for citizens to provide documents that already exist in public databases.
Production of Panamanian macroeconomic information is subject to delays, affecting the decision-making capability of businesses.
Currently the production of the information is the responsibility of the National Comptroller's Office, which does not have sufficient resources to cope.
Edith Catillo Durate, in her article for Prensa.com, writes that, “Macroeconomic information is currently available up to May although some segments are subject to longer delays”.
Telecoms companies should cut their package prices to enable mass Internet access.
"While Latin America is one of the regions with most cell phones (three for every PC), the reality is that the telcoms companies are still conspiring to limit the inevitable growth in using them for web-access."
The article by Alexandre Hohagen in Martesfinanciero.com comments that the way to universalise Internet access is via low cost mobile platforms such as netbooks and inteligent phones, but most importantly by offering more economic payment plans including unlimited connection.
A bill before the National Assembly of Panama would establish a national agency to oversee news media’s self-regulation.
Miami (February 4, 2010)–The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern and astonishment at a bill before the National Assembly of Panama that would establish a national agency to oversee news media’s self-regulation.
The Government of Panama inaugurated the Public Administration Transparency Module, on the web site of the National Customs Authority.
The commissioning of this new tools will allow Panamanians or foreigners to review the information contained in the import and export declarations, without the need for a password.
The Director of the National Customs Authority, Vilma De Luca, said that the tool will promote competition and benefit all Panamanians, who are the consumers, and will help in the supervision of correct customs declaration of the goods.