(Prensa.com) Panama managed to leave the “gray list” of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and remove the label of tax haven that this body had hung for over a decade.
To achieve the goal Panama signed the 12 agreements that required him to be excluded from the list, 11 of them were agreements to avoid double taxation, and 1 for the exchange of tax information with the United States. The last of the documents he signed with France last week.
The OECD reported on its website yesterday that Panama had become part of the list of jurisdictions that have substantially implemented standards for the exchange of tax information.
Thus the nation became the 39th jurisdiction to comply with the requirements of fiscal transparency in the OECD, after a report first published in April 2009.
“Panama has worked hard to achieve this milestone and has made remarkable strides toward meeting international standards in a very short time,” the statement said the secretary general of the agency, the Mexican Angel Gurría.
But he warned that the Global Forum, a division that is part of the body, must still evaluate whether national laws of Panama will allow the effective availability, access and exchange of information.
“The Government has introduced internal changes so that arrangements can be effective. The Global Forum will be monitored to ensure that these laws work as intended. Panama is important to continue working to fully implement the rules, “he stressed.
The OECD recognizes that after the Global Forum Review of Phase 1 of the pairs of Panama (the evaluation of legal and regulatory framework), Panama has significantly modified its legislation to address some of the deficiencies identified by the agency .
These changes will allow the country to advance to Phase 2 of the test (evaluation of the exchange of information in practice).
At the request of Panama, the Global Forum will soon carry out a review of whether the national legislation, including recent changes, will enable the effective exchange of information in practice.
The economy minister, Alberto Vallarino said it is a very positive injection to Panama’s image abroad. “We are confident that the benefits will be evident in the short and medium term.”
For his part, Secretary General of the Superintendency of Banks, Amauri Castillo, after expressing his pleasure at the announcement, stressed that all efforts are made to defend the financial system and platform services in the country go hand in hand with the strategic plan of this entity.
“We intend to introduce the world as a world-class financial center and it was necessary to obtain the investment grade and out of all discriminatory list being put at a disadvantage and were less competitive compared to other financial centers,” he said.