Are the Panama foundations protected by secrecy and confidentiality?
All members of the foundation council and of the supervisory bodies, if any, as well as public or private employees, who have any knowledge of the activities, transactions or operations of the foundations, must at all times the same in secret and confidentiality. Breaches of this duty shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six (6) months and a fine of US$ 50,000.00, without prejudice to the corresponding civil liabilities (Art.35). The requirements for maintaining and the sanctions for breaching the secrecy are strong. Information already of public access like the Public Registry is obviously outside the secrecy rule. However, this secrecy provision should not serve as an excuse against legitimate inquiries through pertinent channels regarding specific criminal actions, such as drug trafficking and money laundering, for which the Republic of Panama has implemented specific legal procedures, in a major effort to improve and protect Panama’s international offshore center. While not pro
