PANAMA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Kharla Aizpurua O., Roberto Vidal and Miguel Arias, Morgan & Morgan
the use of “bitcoin or any other instrument of the same category” and that they do not have specific regulations, so they are not within the SBP’s competence. At the date of said public notice, no subject regulated by the SBP had requested authorisa - tion to “custody, invest, intermediate or operate with these instruments.” Additionally, it estab - lishes that “as usual, the Regulated will maintain due diligence measures to prevent the improper use of their services and platform, in accordance with the provisions of the Banking Law, Law 23 of 2015 and Agreement 10 of 2015 and other applicable regulations.” *** Based on the foregoing, it is clear that there is no regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and virtual assets in Panama. However, clients have enquired about the legal situation of cryptocur - rencies and virtual assets in Panama because of their interest in creating and operating (from Panama) cryptocurrency and virtual asset exchanges, as well as e-wallets in which to store cryptocurrency and virtual assets. Nevertheless, as mentioned by the SBP, in the event that cryp - tocurrency or virtual asset platforms receive fiat money, they should comply with the AML laws, including Law 23 of 2015, which is subject to registration with the SBP, which oversees com - pliance with AML laws in Panama. Bill 697 Finally, there was a Bill 697 of 202 “that regulates the marketing and use of virtual assets, the pro- viders of virtual asset services, and dictates other provisions” (hereinafter, “Bill 697-2022” ). Note that the National Assembly approved the origi - nal bill, which was later partially vetoed by the President of the Republic. It was returned to the
National Assembly to be debated and adjusted according to the President’s veto. In 28 Octo - ber of 2022 the National Assembly approved an updated version of the Bill 697-2022 after adjusting those articles that were vetoed. Ulti - mately, the President objected to the new ver - sion of Bill 697-2022 as unconstitutional, which was later confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice. Thus, Bill 697-2022 was never passed into law, albeit it is worth highlighting as a pos - sible precedent for future regulations. Other Trends Payment Service Providers are more promi - nent in enabling digital transactions in Panama and abroad. These companies are focusing on simplifying transactions for businesses and consumers alike, allowing for payment in local currencies with several means of payment. Businesses are increasingly integrating PSPs to offer more seamless checkout experiences and growing e-commerce sales. Currently, there is no legal framework for these kinds of businesses other than registration as a financially obligated subject in the Superintendence of Banks for the purposes of Law 23 of 2015. E-Wallets have seen substantial uptake in Pana - ma, particularly as they serve a population with increasing smartphone penetration and under - banked populations. Yappy, a digital wallet from Banco General, is currently leading the way, lev - eraging its wide customer base to attract more customers to the platform. Other licensed banks have recently launched a competing e-wallet, Kuara, which allows users to immediately trans - fer funds using a linked phone number. A chal - lenge for this sector is the interoperability of the different e-wallets, as currently, each platform may only be accessed by clients from specific banks.
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