Panama
What is it about?
Law 23 of 2015 “Which adopts measures to prevent money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and dictates other provisions”.
This regulation, along with other aspects of interest, covers the National Coordination for the Prevention of Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, formed by the specialized National Commission, the Financial Analysis Unit and other supervisory bodies. The regulated entities are the financial regulated entities, non-financial regulated entities and the activities carried out by professionals subject to supervision and that have relevant management policies.
Within the prevention mechanisms established in this Law, the following minimum tools to be implemented are established:
- Due diligence of counterparties and funds.
- Monitoring of the client’s business.
- Essential design criteria for preventive controls and the obligation to train personnel.
- Preventive freezing of funds, goods or assets.
- Conflict of Interest Management: subsequently incorporated by Law 21 of 2017, with respect to fiduciaries.
- Reports to the Financial Analysis Unit for the Prevention of Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. In this context, the protection and suitability of employees, managers and agents, who should not be affected by threats in case of reporting suspicious situations, becomes important.
