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.
The financial group G & T Continental has obtained a general license to expand the services it provides in Panama, where it plans to strengthen its corporate and private banking area.
The financial institution started operations in Panama in July 2008 under the name of Banco Financia, S.A. (BMF) and in 2009 changed its name to Banco G & T Continental (Panamá) S.A.
The liquidity of the banking system grew by 30% in the last twelve months, helped by the growth of liquid assets of banks and the extension of terms for external loans.
The report by the Central Bank concludes in its study on financial stability that the Salvadoran banking system continues to show a position of robust solvency in terms of liquidity levels which have been expanded in recent months.
Analysis by Fitch Ratings projects that banks in the region will maintain strong balance sheets and have stable profitability in 2014.
Excerpted from Fitch Ratings:
Differential Growth and Opportunities: Low financial depth, in most systems, continues to provide significant opportunities for expansion of bank balance sheets; although this is limited by low average income levels.
In the last year, the sector was characterized by lower loan growth, lower returns and higher funding costs.
Fitch has presented its Special Report on the Central American Banking System, which analyzes the performance of the sector in the period between July 2012 and June 2013.
The rating company highlights:
Low Credit Growth:
The loan portfolios of most banking systems in Central America slowed their growth rates in 2013, in line with the downward revision of the region's GDP. In June 2013, the annual growth of loan portfolios of five Central American countries stood in the range of 6% to 12% in real terms, although it was only 2.2% in Honduras. According to Fitch Ratings, loans in the region will close 2013 with real growth of about 7% (2012: 8.9%). Panama will lead the growth of the loan portfolio, but inflationary pressures throughout the region will be an additional limit to real credit expansion.
A report from Fitch indicates that only in 2011 the Banks of Central America will reach profitabilitye levels that could be compared to those before the crisis.
Fitch thinks that the majority of Central America's banking systems will earn more profits than in 2009, but it will not be until 2011 when they reach profitability levels comparable to the ones they had before the crisis.
AIG El Salvador, a subsidiary of American International Group, affirmed that its has the ability to pay for its commitments in the country.
In a release, AIG - which operated in El Salvador under the names of AIG Union y Desarrollo S.A and AIG S.A. Seguros de Personas - says that the credit granted to company last week in New York by the US Federal Reserve "will allow us to meet liquidity needs in the short term."
In a theoretical case of a bank liquidation, the assets should cover the deposits by the general public and the shareholder capital.
Banking legislation in force in Guatemala from 1926 to 1946 established a capital to deposit ratio with deposits that were 10 times higher than capital. If the capital was 100 then the deposits could be as high as 1000. If they wanted to increase the deposits, they had to increase capital.