Weekly Report - 04 May 2023 (WR-23-18)

Panama’s 71-member unicameral assembly last week shelved a proposed asset forfeiture bill (625). The move has been condemned by Security Minister Juan Pino and raises further doubts over the ability of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) government led by President Laurentino Cortizo to make good its longstanding promise to tackle corruption – a pledge which has yet to be fulfilled. It comes soon after Cortizo asserted his government had been making “an enormous effort” to remove Panama from the grey list of countries that are not doing enough to combat money laundering, drawn up by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).