After the Nicaraguan Assembly approved a bill that forces local banks to allow public officials sanctioned by OFAC to have an account, there are fears that the country will be isolated from the international financial system.
A statement issued by the National Assembly on February 3 explains that the deputies approved the Law Initiative of Reform and Addition to the Law for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers and Users, a legislative project which guarantees a better and greater protection of the rights of consumers and users in the access to goods and services as a human right recognized by the Nicaraguan State.
The European Commission announced that the two Central American countries are on the list of nations with deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing strategies.
Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar/Burma, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe are the countries included in the list, the European Commission reported.
The Assembly of Panama approved in third debate the draft law that creates the private and unique system of registration of final beneficiaries of legal entities.
Chapter II of the document, on Registration of Resident Agents, stipulates that any lawyer or law firm providing professional services as a resident agent for one or more legal persons, constituted or registered in the country, must register and keep in force their registration with the Superintendency of Non-Financial Subjects, the Legislative Assembly informed.
Arguing that the country did not implement the reforms to which it had committed itself within the agreed time frame, the European Union decided to include it again in its list of non-cooperating territories in fiscal matters.
The Senate approved in second reading the project of extinction of ownership, which will serve for the State to seize property originating from or linked to the violation of criminal laws and property used or linked to criminal activities.
This act regulates the procedure for lawsuits for the extinction of property provided for in Article 51, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the Dominican Republic, which states that the "Act shall establish the regime for the administration of property seized and abandoned in criminal proceedings and in lawsuits for the extinction of property, provided for in the legal system," the Senate reported.
The Central American country was excluded from Russia's list of nations that do not exchange information for tax purposes, on which it had been on since 2016.
The confirmation announcement was made by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov during the presentation of the credentials of Panama's new ambassador to the Russian Federation, Efrain Villarreal, reported the Panamanian Foreign Ministry.
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).
In Panama, the Superintendence of Banks states that as a result of the changes made to comply with FATF requirements, 93 bank correspondents have been recovered.
Since the authorities in Panama began to make the changes required by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the regulatory processes, the results have begun to be seen, as several foreign banks have expressed interest in returning to the Panamanian financial center.
The National Assembly of Panama approved in third debate the bill that creates the Superintendence of Non-Financial Subjects, and now the proposal only awaits the approval of the Executive.
The bill, which was sent by the Executive Branch to be analyzed in extraordinary sessions and which seeks to establish the exclusive competence to regulate and supervise non-financial regulated entities administratively with the aim of preventing money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, has already passed the procedure in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly of Panama approved in second debate the bill, by means of which it is intended to create the Superintendence of Non-Financial Subjects.
This legislative project, sent by the Executive Branch to be analyzed in extraordinary sessions, seeks to establish the exclusive competence to regulate and supervise in the administrative way the non-financial obligated subjects with the intention of preventing money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, informed the National Assembly.
An agreement was signed to create a working group on fiscal and financial transparency cooperation, with the aim of removing Panama from the French list of non-cooperating countries in tax matters.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama reported that the working group will contribute to strengthening cooperation, improving the exchange of fiscal information, promoting financial transparency and the fight against money laundering, focusing on finding more efficient mechanisms and practices for the exchange of information for fiscal purposes, within the framework of the provisions of the tax agreements in force between the parties, including all aspects of the process, from the preparation and sending, to the receipt and response of requests for exchange of information.
After the country was put back on the FATF grey list, the private sector believes that investments will be driven away and economic growth will face multiple obstacles.
After the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to include the country in the list of nations that need to be supervised in the process of implementing measures to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, entrepreneurs from different sectors foresee that the effects will be negative for the local economy.
The Panamanian business sector assures that the efforts and results that have been achieved in such a short time have not been recognized by the FATF, which decided to put the country back on its gray list.
Although at the beginning of the year efforts were made in the country to improve controls in relation to tax evasion, as in the case of the approval by the National Assembly of the bill criminalizing tax evasion, when the amount defrauded in a fiscal period of one year is equal to or greater than $300,000, it was not enough for the country to return to the FATF grey list.
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.