UPDATE: In October 2023, the FATF announced the removal of Panama from the list of high-risk countries or ‘Grey List‘

The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT warmly congratulates Panama and all stakeholders involved in the country’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Since the launch of our technical assistance activities in 2020, our support has been unwavering and the project is extremely pleased to see the partner country officially removed from the FATF list of countries under increased monitoring.

In March 2021, the EU Global Facility received a request for technical assistance on Beneficial Ownership (BO) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) from Panama. A month later, a work programme was shared with the country, followed by the kick-off of activities in May. A set of e-training sessions and mentoring activities has been delivered over the next six months. In October 2021, the EU GF team conducted a scoping mission to Panama to draft a plan of action for the future.

From May 2021 to February 2024, 19 TA activities were delivered by the EU GF to Panama -including the organisation of two regional conferences.

The training and activities conducted by the project have sought to help Panama rectify the strategic deficiencies in its national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework. as defined under the Fourth and Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directives.