Reported by Michael Stott

Panama expects to be removed soon from a “grey list” of countries that are not doing enough to combat money laundering, following years of pressure to clean up its financial system in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal.

President Laurentino Cortizo told the Financial Times that the Central American nation was completing work on a beneficial registry of company ownership, one of the last outstanding tasks assigned by the Financial Action Task Force, an international watchdog. 

“We are expecting to leave FATF [’s grey list] soon, we are expecting it this year,” the president said. “We have made an enormous effort. I have been personally following the team working on the issue”.

A senior US embassy official confirmed there was a “really good possibility” Panama would leave the FATF grey list and it could happen before the end of 2023 if enough progress was made on uploading companies to the registry of beneficial ownership. Information from the registry also needed to be passed on to law enforcement for possible prosecutions, the official added.

Panama has been under intense pressure from FATF to complete its outstanding actions, having missed a 2021 deadline. In its latest review in February, the organisation urged Panama to “swiftly complete its action plan by June 2023” or face enhanced due diligence of transactions.

Read full report: https://www.ft.com/content/00418144-4b72-41d3-ae6d-89bfda2fd0e9