Panama Banking
Panama has one of the most successful international banking centers in the world. The International Banking Center (IBC) of Panama has 90 banks – of these 43 have a general license, 32 have an international license and 7 have a representation license. The banking sector employs around thousands of people and contributes about 8% to Panama’s GDP.
According to the 2008 statistics, net income gain of Panama’s banking centre was around 824 million dollars. By the end of September 2008 credit portfolio was increased by 19%, deposits were increased by 24% while liquidity was around 60%.
Panama is a great assets protection jurisdiction for corporations, foundations, banking and stock brokerage accounts. The Panamanian banking system has several strengths over other banking systems from an organizational point of view:
- A stable economic environment
- Conservative credit management policies
- Liquidity of its system which fuels the credit cycle
- Sound and strong asset adequacy
- Confidentiality of the identity of bank account holders
- Offshore-derived income is not taxable.
- You do not have to physically visit Panama to establish a bank account.
- Panama’s banks have a real banking license and their assets are over one billion dollars.
- Panama’s Banks are stable and well established with substantial assets. Their savings and loans have $10,000 insurance on the individual accounts.
Panama is one of the oldest offshore financial centers in the world. The banks in Panama have one of the best privacy laws in the world. You can protect your assets legally through Panamanian offshore banking services.
List of documents that you will need to open a bank account in Panama:
- A valid passport.
- A letter of recommendation from the bank in your native country
- A letter of recommendation from someone who a) has a bank account at your desired bank or b) simply lives in Panama without a criminal record.
The absence of central bank, monetary authority and paper currency are unique advantages of banking in Panama. Another fundamental benefit of banking in Panama is its dollar based economy. It has substantially strengthened the Panamanian IBC from financial crisis.