Amendments to securities regulations are being prepared in order to allow local stock brokers to buying shares of listed companies in developed markets.
This change in regulations and operational infrastructure will give access to the purchase of shares of international companies listed on stock markets such as New York.
Following the decision by the Colombian authorities, the costs of financial and tax transactions between the two countries will increase.
The absence of Panama's signing of an agreement to exchange tax information with Colombia has led authorities of that country to include Panama in the list of uncooperative countries. The main objective of Colombia "... is to close the doors for people hiding money in other countries."
The International Organization of Securities Commission has suspended the country's right to vote as a member because it has not yet signed the agreement to provide information on stock market investigations.
The IOSCO's decision to suspend voting rights for the country as a member of the organization comes after the entity warned the authorities, repeatedly, about the need for regulation which would provide information to banks and financial institutions from other markets in cases of investigations.
A proposal put forward by the Superintendency of Securities Market seeks to specialize market funds further, so that administrators focus on design and management and engage third parties for marketing.
The proposal will be submitted for analysis to the National Council of Supervision of the Financial System in October.
Elfinanciero.com reports that among the proposals for modifications they are working on is "...
The placement of Panamanian securities through the Bloomberg platform will mean greater exposure to global investors and consequently increased demand.
It is expected that the Comptroller General's Office will endorse, no later than December, a contract to operate in the Bloomberg platform. From that moment the Panama Stock Exchange will no longer be used to issue Panamanian Government securities.
Modifications to the Regulation on Infrastructure Financing and Securitization now allows for the creation of investment vehicles to finance public works projects.
These investment vehicles can be used for two purposes: to develop the work or to securitize its use or exploitation. With the amendment to the regulations, sustainable infrastructure works can be developed self sufficiently without government intervention.
An announcement has been made that in the short-term auctions of securities by Panamanian State will no longer be made in the local market and instead will be carried out through the Bloomberg platform.
Given the lack of investment in technology on the part of Panama stock exchange, the government has announced that it will begin making the auctions using the Bloomberg platform. The will allow for more transparent transactions by the State.
For "breaching the obligations of the issuer" the Stock Exchange has suspended indefinitely trading bonds and VNC's by the financial company La Generosa.
From a statement issued by the Panama Stock Exchange:
"... We wish to inform the public that, in addition to the suspension of trading of corporate bonds by Finanzas y Créditos del Hogar, S.A., for $ 4 million, effective yesterday, the stock market in Panama has decided to suspend from today and indefinitely, negotiation of corporate bonds and commercial negotiation values (VCN's) by the issuer listed on the Exchange.
The subsidiary company of Panamá Power, operator of the hydroelectric El Alto, is seeking financing through a six year term bonds placement in the Panamanian stock market.
Hydro Caisán published on the website of the Stock Exchange of Panama the preliminary prospectus of the issue, which details the characteristics of the placement and the uses for the $90 million it seeks to raise.
Market actors in El Salvador claim that transactions are being subjected to double retention, both by brokerage firms and the bank related to it.
Because of the speed with which the financial sector has been forced to comply with the withholding tax on financial transactions, effective from September 1st this year, the same market participants are claiming that investors are suffering because they are being billed the tax twice on each transaction.
The National Stock Exchange will implement a system of mass placement of securities in order to encourage the registration of emissions from private companies and the arrival of more investors.
The strategy will focus on standardizing the securities that are issued in the primary market so that they can then be traded in the secondary market and in this way give them greater marketability and encourage the participation of more investors.
The Superintendency of the Panama Stock Exchange is preparing a regulation that prevents people with certain licenses from holding the same positions in more than one entity.
The regulation was submitted to consultation by the Superintendency of Securities and Exchange in Panama and received several proposed changes, mainly from the Panamanian Chamber of Capital Markets (Capamec), which believes that "...
In the first six months of the year $3.250 million were traded, which is an increase of 33% compared to the amount traded in the same period in 2013.
The primary market, where fist time issues of shares and debt securities are recorded, had the most activity, with trading of $414.61 million between January and July 2014.
Laestrella.com.pa reports that "...In the case of the primary market in the month of July 2015, background shares reached $20.72 million, preferred shares $2.59 million, bonds $154.73 million and mortgage bonds $75 million."
After two years of allegations, suspensions and interventions, the Securities Market Regulator has ordered the liquidation of the brokerage firm.
From a statement issued by the Securities Regulator (VPS):
The Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV), wishes to communicate to investors and the general public its resolution SMV No.358-14 of August 11, 2014, on the Compulsory Settlement (Administrative) of Casa de Valores Financial Pacific Inc.. which is ordered, under the provisions of Article 302 of the Consolidated Text of the Law on Securities Market.
The amount of trade between January and June this year represents 53% of total traded in the market during 2013.
In the month of June 2014 alone transactions in the securities market of Panama totaled $469.7 million, with the primary market, where new issues are made, being the most important, with 53% of the total traded.
"... In the first six months of the year the total cumulative volume of the market represents 53% of the proceeds from all of 2013. Whilst January to June $2,671.8 million was accumulated, from January to December 2013 the figure was $5,018.8 million. "