PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Kharla Aizpurua O., Roberto Vidal and Miguel Arias, Morgan & Morgan
2.9 Gatekeeper Liability Panama has issued several laws and regulations relating to anti-money laundering (AML) mat - ters. In this sense, financially obliged subjects are responsible for monitoring and examining the activities carried out on their platforms or servers. However, this responsibility stems from being a regulated financial subject and not from being categorised as “gatekeeper” . At present, there is no formal categorisation of a company as “gatekeeper” . 2.10 Significant Enforcement Actions The three main verticals and their respective reg - ulators share similar enforcement actions. The applicable regulator has the faculty to impose penalties based on the evaluation criteria deter - mined by the corresponding legal source. Gen - erally, the legal source determines which actions and/or omissions are defined as very serious infractions or lesser infractions. Depending on the extent of the infraction, sanctions can include monetary fines, loss of licences or reg - istration to carry out the activities, suspension of activities, removal of personnel from the position of administration or control, or other measures as mandated by the applicable law. 2.11 Implications of Additional, Non- Financial Services Regulations As mentioned before, there are no distinctions between legacy players and fintech companies. In general terms, however, there are a few appli - cable non-financial service regulations. The Electronic Commerce Law In Panama, electronic commerce is regulated by Law 51 of 22 July 2008, as amended to date (the “Electronic Commerce Law” ), which applies to businesses that work through the internet and are offered in Panama. The Electronic Com - merce Law relates mainly to electronic contracts
and the conditions relating to the validity and effectiveness of said contracts and establishes the obligations and responsibilities of provid - ers of commercial services through the internet, including those who act as intermediaries in the transmission of content by social media net - works and the exchange of commercial informa - tion and documentation electronically, including Law 81 of 2019, regulated by Executive Decree 285 of 2021 (the “Data Protection Regulation” ), regulates the protection of personal data of nat - ural persons and its handling, storage, and treat - ment. The Data Protection Regulation applies to data processing that originates or is stored in Panama and data processing carried out within the framework of a commercial activity on the internet, or any other means of electronic or digital communication in accordance with the Electronic Commerce Law to guarantee data protection in activities aimed at the Panamanian market. offers, promotions and contests. The Data Protection Regulation Whenever a person or entity obtains its users’ personal data, it must implement a privacy poli - cy that respects the “ARCO rights” enshrined in the Data Protection Regulation. Such a person or entity must also obtain the necessary con - sent from its users for the collection, use, and processing of their personal data, in addition to complying with the requirements in case of transfer of said personal data to third parties (local or cross-border). Law 45 Law 45 of 2007( “Law 45” ), which dictates regu - lations on consumer protection and defence of competition, is also applicable to financial ser - vice providers. In general, Law 45 implements standards for providing information clearly,
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