This petition signed and delivered to President Obama is rather disturbing and will certainly cause consternation for Panama government officials. I find it a bit disingenuous for the U.S. to make such claims about Panama banks acting as a tax haven when the U.S. banks do the exact same thing on a much grander scale. In addition, recent events have shown many U.S. top banks have poor oversight and regulation that would not even pass muster here in Panama. Within the letter is this paragraph about Panama.
"Panama FTA. We also believe that Panama is not an appropriate U.S. FTA partner. A Government Accountability Office study identified Panama as one of only eight countries and the only current or prospective FTA partner that was listed on all of the major tax-haven watchdog lists. Panama has long been a key target of both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other tax transparency entities for its resistance to international norms in combating tax evasion and money laundering. Indeed, Panama is one of few countries that has refused to sign any tax information exchange treaties. We applaud your cosponsorship last year of S. 681 (The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act), which designates Panama as an Offshore Secrecy Jurisdiction targeted for that legislations restrictions on the use of offshore tax havens and abusive tax shelters to avoid U.S. federal taxation. Panama is one of the top locations for multinational firms subsidiaries many created for the sole purpose of avoiding taxes. (my emphasis).
The day is coming soon when legislation will be passed that will severely restrict the way Americans can do business here in Panama. I suspect that main restriction will be limitations on money flowing into Panama from the US. If you are considering moving some of your assets out of the U.S. you need to act now.
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