In a meeting with the news and questions from Prensa Latina about the so-called “face to face” program with the public and private sectors to verify actions and confront money laundering before June of this year, the official pointed out that this and other initiatives seek show effectiveness.
He specified that the measures that are adopted to get out of the lists are those in which actions must be deepened, and one of them, he said, is the information system associated with the final beneficiaries of the corporations.
Another of the rectifications to generate confidence in this sphere, he pointed out, is related to the constant monitoring of the companies that operate in the canal country.
In its latest update, FATF kept Panama on the gray list, where it has been for three years.
According to the Executive, eight of the 15 required actions are being worked on and it recognizes that seven are still missing, such as beneficiary records, legislative reforms and in-depth investigations into financial crimes, among others.
On the same subject, before the media, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama, José Ramón Icaza, indicated that the Open Budget model should be changed, in which the State, through the MEF, commits to improve transparency of information and accountability.
It is a problem of all the actors around the regulatory framework and the strategy is focused on enhancing the country’s image; hence, it is key to offer periodic reports to the diplomatic corps and to all Panamanian representations abroad.
Towards 2023 it is key, he added, to allow the participation of citizens in the preparation and control of the execution of the budget.
In Icaza’s opinion, Panamanians have the duty to pay taxes, but also the right to demand that the Executive respect the commitments made to provide the isthmus with an open government.
On March 9, the Vice Minister of Finance of Panama, Jorge Luis Almengor, also declared to Prensa Latina that in response to the seven points that indicate him as weak, in May and September they will resume what they call the “face to face” , to evaluate with non-compliant companies the implementation of the necessary regulations.
Before the end of this year, he said, we must also advance in a law that establishes the registry of final beneficiaries of each entity and make the information transparent to the regulatory entity.
Almengor asserted that this is the number one priority of the government of Laurentino Cortizo, because “it is useless to advance in economic revival without having a positive vision of the country at the international level, in which the rating agencies have great weight.”
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