ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND COUNTER TERRORISM FINANCING (AML/CTF) IN PANAMA
Panama is considered today as an important regional financial center, with one of the fastest growing economies in the Western Hemisphere. The country’s government has developed a comprehensive legal framework to detect, prevent, and combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and cooperates closely with international law enforcement agencies in combating drug trafficking, the financing of terrorism and other financial crimes.
The government has declared that combating money laundering is one of its main goals, and to further this objective established the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Panama, the Unidad de Análisis Financiero (UAF) and the National Commission for the prevention of money laundering, terrorism financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Panama’s recently passed AML/CTF law states that banks and other supervised entities, including companies involved in the diamond business, are obliged to establish policies, procedures, and controls for the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and related crimes.
According to Panamanian laws and regulations, financial institutions and other regulated entities must adhere to Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures for the identification of customers, exercise due diligence, and perform accurate record-keeping. The Superintendent of Banks supervises and examines financial institutions for compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) regulations, including compliance with KYC policies, and the Ministry of Economy AML/CTF unit oversees all other regulated non-financial entities including all Free Zones.
Below you can download the Panamanian AML/ATF Law and its regulations.
