Panama is the largest banking centre in Central America, with a dollarised economy (the US dollar circulates alongside the balboa) and an international banking sector built around general, international and representative office licences. It also hosts a regional securities market supervised by the Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores.
Risk flagCaution
FATFNot listed
EU AML high-risk listNot listed
EU tax listListed
Licence regimes4
CurrencyPAB
S&P ratingBBB-
Next electionMay 2029
Panama is in Annex I of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes as revised on 17 February 2026; it left FATF increased monitoring in October 2023 and was removed from the EU high-risk third country list by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1184, in force 5 August 2025. Checked 7 October 2026.
Government and politics
Government
Presidential republic
President
José Raúl Mulino · since July 2024
President
José Raúl Mulino (Realizando Metas (RM))
Governing parties
Realizando Metas (RM), elected in alliance with Partido Alianza
Last election
General (presidential and legislative), 5 May 2024
Next election
General (presidential and legislative), May 2029. President serves a single 5-year term
Legislature
National Assembly: unicameral, 71 seats
Legal system
Civil law
Economy and finance
Population
4.6m (2025)
GDP
USD 90.5bn (2025)
GDP per person
USD 19,814 (2025)
Currency
Panamanian balboa and US dollar (PAB), dollarized: the balboa is fixed at par with the US dollar, which is legal tender and circulates as the paper currency
Central bank
No central bank (Superintendency of Banks of Panama regulates banking; Banco Nacional de Panamá is the state bank)
Credit rating
S&P BBB- (stable) · Moody's Baa3 (negative) · Fitch BB+ (stable) (as of September 2026)
A dollarized services economy built on the Panama Canal, the Colón Free Zone, ports and an international banking centre supervised by the Superintendency of Banks.
Bank
Licencia General (general banking licence)
Minimum capitalUSD 10m
TimelineSuperintendent decides within up to 90 days of a complete application (art. 48)
AuthoritySuperintendencia de Bancos de Panamá
PAB 10 million paid-in or assigned capital, net of losses (art. 68)
Law
Texto Único de la Ley Bancaria (Decreto Ejecutivo No. 52 de 2008, ordering Decreto Ley 9 de 1998 as amended by Decreto Ley 2 de 2008), arts. 41, 47, 48 and 68
Fees
Annual regulation and supervision fee PAB 30,000 plus PAB 35 per PAB 1 million of total assets, the asset-based part capped at PAB 100,000 (art. 225); the SBP may adjust it.
Passporting
No passporting regime.
Key requirements
Application filed in writing through a Panamanian lawyer (apoderado legal)
Identity of principal shareholders and fitness of management
Evidence of ability to contribute the minimum capital, with clearly traceable origin
Business plan showing viability and contribution to the Panamanian economy
Temporary permit issued first, definitive licence after registration in the Public Registry
Licencia Internacional (international banking licence)
Minimum capitalUSD 3m
TimelineSuperintendent decides within up to 90 days of a complete application (art. 48)
AuthoritySuperintendencia de Bancos de Panamá
PAB 3 million paid-in or assigned capital (art. 68), of which PAB 250,000 must be held as a guarantee deposit at Banco Nacional de Panamá or Caja de Ahorros
Law
Texto Único de la Ley Bancaria (Decreto Ejecutivo No. 52 de 2008), arts. 41, 68 and 71
Fees
Annual regulation and supervision fee PAB 15,000 (art. 225).
Passporting
No passporting regime.
Key requirements
Business directed from an office in Panama with transactions that take effect abroad only
Same fit and proper, capital origin and business plan criteria as the general licence
Capital adequacy rules where the SBP is home supervisor (art. 71)
Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá (SBP) · websitebanks
Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV) · websiteInvestment firms, Funds
Minimum net capital for broker-dealers is set by SMV acuerdo and was not confirmed from an official source in this check, so it is null. The original 1999 text of Decreto Ley 1 set a broker-dealer licence fee of PAB 5,000 and an annual supervision fee of 0.0025 percent of annual trading (minimum PAB 2,500); these figures were not checked against the current consolidated text, so the fees field is null. No crypto-asset or virtual asset service provider licensing law was identified on the SBP or SMV sites; its legislative status was not confirmed from an official source in this check. Remittance and payment businesses and online gaming (Junta de Control de Juegos) were not verified from official sources in this pass, so they have no entries. The Ley Bancaria allows the SBP to change the minimum capital and supervision fees by acuerdo.
General information
About Panama
Natural Earth boundaries. Map is indicative.
Status
Sovereign state
Capital
Panama City
Area
75,420 km²
Official languages
Spanish
Time zone
UTC-05:00
Main exports
Panama Canal transit and logistics services
Financial services
Bananas
Fish
Refined petroleum
Main export partners
China
Japan
United States
Thailand
Costa Rica
Sources for the country information(6)
Country information checked 9 October 2026. Licensing data updated 7 October 2026. Information only, not legal advice; requirements change. Regulatory notice.
