Editing Panama (section)

===Panama as an IFC===
{{main|Financial centre|Panama as a tax haven}}
[[File:Countries implicated in the Panama Papers.svg|thumb|Countries with politicians, public officials or close associates implicated in the [[List of people named in the Panama Papers|Panama Papers leak]] on April 15, 2016]]

Since the early 20th century, Panama has with the revenues from the canal built the largest Regional Financial Center (IFC)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHLvCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|title=International Banking and Financial Centers|last1=Park|first1=Yoon S.|last2=Essayyad|first2=Musa|date=December 6, 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400925045|language=en|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205142031/https://books.google.com/books?id=JHLvCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> in Central America, with consolidated assets being more than three times that of Panama's GDP. The [[banking]] sector employs more than 24,000 people directly. Financial intermediation contributed 9.3 percent of GDP.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.presidencia.gob.pa/tmp/file/1503/INDEPENDENT%20EXPERT%20COMMITTEE.pdf|title=Committee of Independent Experts|publisher=Presidency of the Republic of Panama|date=November 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818023452/https://www.presidencia.gob.pa/tmp/file/1503/INDEPENDENT%20EXPERT%20COMMITTEE.pdf|archive-date=August 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Stability has been a key strength of Panama's financial sector, which has benefited from the country's favorable economic and business climate. Banking institutions report sound growth and solid financial earnings. The banking supervisory regime is largely compliant with the [[Basel III|Basel Core Principles]] for Effective Banking Supervision.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/NP/ofca/OFCA.aspx#P|title=Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs): IMF Staff Assessments (OFCA)|website=www.imf.org|language=en-US|access-date=June 4, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025215945/http://www.imf.org/external/NP/ofca/OFCA.aspx#P|url-status=live}}</ref> As a regional financial center, Panama exports some banking services, mainly to Latin America, and plays an important role in the country's economy. However, Panama still cannot compare to the position held by Hong Kong or Singapore as financial centers in Asia.

Panama still has a reputation worldwide for being a [[tax haven]] but has agreed to enhanced transparency, especially since the release in 2016 of the [[Panama Papers]]. Significant progress has been made to improve full compliance with anti-money laundering recommendations. Panama was removed from the [[Financial Action Task Force|FATF]] gray list in February 2016. The European Union also removed Panama from its tax haven blacklist in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EU Removes Panama, Seven Others, From Tax Haven Blacklist - ICIJ|date=January 23, 2018|url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/eu-removes-panama-seven-others-tax-haven-black-list/|access-date=July 8, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=January 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123201849/https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/eu-removes-panama-seven-others-tax-haven-black-list/|url-status=live}}</ref> However efforts remain to be made, and the IMF repeatedly mentions the need to strengthen financial transparency and fiscal structure.<ref name=":1" />