This article was written by Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado, the vice president of Panama and published in The Guardian on April 21, 2016.
It is essentially a statement about how unfair the affair known as the “Panama Papers,” really is, and how the lack of financial transparency is a global problem, and not limited to this country.
There were more than 11 million documents that were leaked to the public, and they showed how different financial firms and other corporate interests were taking advantage of the laws in Panama.
Saint Malo de Alvarado doesn’t just try to push the blame onto other and says that there is still a lot of work that has to be done. However, Panama has instituted a number of important reforms that focus on financial transparency and instituted legislation that allows shareholders of all companies in Panama to be identified.
The article does look closer at why the term “Panama Papers” was popularized. It stems from – she says – a misunderstanding of the country’s financial system.
Panama is known for treating foreign and domestic corporations the same, which means that the companies are only tax income derived from Panama and not that which comes from outside the country. This leads to labels like “tax haven,” which certainly has some poor connotations.
The country continues to adapt more regulations and reform efforts, and it still remains a great place for setting up an offshore corporation.
See the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/21/panama-papers-tax-haven-financial-transparency
