(Newsroompanama) Panama’s bankers, perhaps caught between a rock and a hard place, have endorsed a tax information exchange agreement with the United States.
While some believe the agreement will jeopardize the country’s $69 billion financial services industry the Banking Association of Panama , says it will help the country in its effort to be removed from a watch list of tax havens.
Association president Moses Cohen said approval was given after an examination of the agreement that was signed in Washington last month.
Cohen forecast that the international banking centers of Panama will be unaffected by the regulatory scope of the document.
He said Panama’s “banking secrecy,” that protects the confidentiality of depositors and accounts in the country, remains unscathed.
“It is a necessary step to create a climate to attract new investments,” he said.
The signing of the agreement is expected to help Panama to get off the tax haven list of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and avoid sanctions.