Panama, October 4, 2022.- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), together with the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) and the Panama Banking Association (ABP, for its acronym in Spanish), presented the “Integrity Handbook for the Banking Industry”, tailored specifically for the banks and the financial institutions in the market, to address the risks related to the lack of transparency that these entities could face during the performance of their activities.

According to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama’s Banking Activity Report data, the commercial and mortgages components drive the sustained growth of the International Banking Center’s (IBC) loan portfolio as of August 2022.

The Board of Directors of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) recently approved the appointment of Messrs. Rafael Guardia Pérez, as its representative on the Board of Directors of the Superintendency of the Securities Market (SMV), and David Alberto Davarro, as its representative on the Board of Directors of the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama (SSRP).

As home supervisor, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama hosted the Fourth Supervisory College of BiCapital Corp. Financial Group, a face-to-face and online event.

The use of technology for business continuity and offering services and products through new tools must embrace measures to prevent money laundering and other illicit activities, considering the regulations issued by each regulator in its home country and international standards, remarked the Superintendent of Banks, Amauri A. Castillo, during the opening ceremony of the Sixth Supervisory College of Ficohsa Group.

With a 13% growth, the net loan portfolio of the International Banking Center (IBC) continues to evolve favorably, totaling USD 80.63 billion, i.e., USD 9.26 billion more than that a year earlier, and the expectations of new placements are in an expansion area, because of the normalization of the global monetary policy and the lower growth perspective for the second half of 2022.

To continue with its supervisory work that allows preserving the stability of the financial system by exchanging information of cross-border banking groups and facilitating the collective understanding of financial groups’ risk and vulnerabilities, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama held the Sixth Supervisory College of Promerica Group.

“For the Superintendency of Banks, it is vitally important to bolster the knowledge of the financial sector,” said the Superintendent of Banks, Amauri A. Castillo, during the opening ceremony of the second training session on the “Anti-corruption Integrity Guidelines,” addressed to the Compliance personnel of banking institutions.

With a budget investment of USD 24.39 million for 2023, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) intends to strengthen the supervision of reporting entities by adopting technological tools and reinforcing its highly trained human resources, informed the Superintendent of Banks, Amauri A. Castillo, during the presentation of the 2023 budget before the Budget Commission of the National Assembly.

Adriana Raquel Carles Rojas took office as new a member of the Board of Directors of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), at the Office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, H.E. Héctor Alexander.