## Panama: Financial Sector Assessment Program - Technical Note on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)

_IMF Staff Country Reports, July 19, 2024_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Panama: Financial Sector Assessment Program - Technical Note on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/07/19/panama-financial-sector-assessment-program-technical-note-on-anti-money-laundering-and-552153)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: July 19, 2024
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400284762.002

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### Summary
- This technical note explains Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) issues in Panama.
- Enhancing transparency of legal persons and arrangements established in Panama has been a top priority for the country and remains the subject of ongoing reforms.
- The continuous and large-scale outreach efforts to promote registration in the Registro Único de Beneficiarios Finales (RUBF) are commendable and need to be sustained.
- As a result of concerted efforts to ‘clean up’ the public registry, Panama currently has a large number of suspended legal persons—close to half a million—that require a path to dissolution.

### Key Findings
- Transparency efforts: Large-scale outreach to promote RUBF registration is ongoing and considered commendable.
- Registry status: There are close to half a million suspended legal persons in the public registry following cleanup efforts.
- Corporate landscape: The corporate landscape in Panama is evolving and requires continued monitoring and updated risk assessments to reflect emerging business models and potential exposures to new threats and vulnerabilities.
- Virtual assets: Legislation addressing virtual assets and virtual asset service providers is absent and needs to be enacted in line with Financial Action Task Force Recommendation 15 and international best practices.

### Risks and Monitoring
- Emerging risks: New business models and technologies create potential exposures to new threats and vulnerabilities that are not fully captured by existing assessments.
- Registry backlog: The large stock of suspended legal persons represents a structural issue that requires a legislative and operational path to dissolution to reduce risks associated with inactive or noncompliant entities.
- Ongoing vigilance: Continuous monitoring and periodic updates to risk assessments are necessary to keep pace with changes in the financial and corporate sectors.

### Policy Recommendations
- Sustain outreach: Continue and sustain continuous and large-scale outreach efforts to promote registration in the RUBF.
- Address suspended entities: Establish a clear path to dissolution for the close to half a million suspended legal persons in the public registry.
- Update risk assessments: Monitor the evolving corporate landscape closely and update risk assessments to reflect emerging business models and potential exposures to new threats and vulnerabilities.
- Enact virtual-asset legislation: Enact legislation addressing virtual assets and virtual asset service providers that complies with Financial Action Task Force Recommendation 15 and international best practices.

*Source: IMF Staff Country Report — Panama: Financial Sector Assessment Program - Technical Note on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).*

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- **1panea2024004**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/07/19/panama-financial-sector-assessment-program-technical-note-on-anti-money-laundering-and-552153_