Meeting of Gafilat members and observers in Panama

Representatives of member countries and observers Working groups of the Latin American Group for Financial Action (Gafilat) are in Panama where working group meetings are held and XLVII Plenary meeting of representatives of the organization.

The Republic of Panama is a member GAFILAT since 2010, an organization that brings together 18 countries of South America, Central America and North America.

During the opening ceremony, President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo reaffirmed Panama’s commitment to facilitating cooperation activities for international financial and fiscal transparency.

“Panama has established national policies to help prevent and combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Likewise, we have strengthened cooperation mechanisms among member countries,” Cortizo pointed out.

Cortizo admitted that the support of Gafilat It was and is important for the proper implementation of FATF standards and the strengthening of financial services in all member countries to strengthen international transparency and promote technical support for the protection of the socioeconomic integrity of our countries.

As a result of compliance with the 15 actions of its plan, Panama expects an “in situ” visit to the country by the FATF team in September. Experts said that leaving the list Financial Action Task Force (FATF)in which she has been involved since June 2019, is crucial for Panama.

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Héctor Alexander, pointed out that these Gafilat meetings are of particular importance because the contribution and technical work of each of the represented countries in terms of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing affects global results in the fight against organized crime.

The Meeting of Gafilat working groups in Panama This is a reliable proof of the commitment of countries and their authorities to progress in respect of technical and regulatory issues and to respect international standards in this matter in the best possible way, he pointed out. President of Gafilat, Jorge Omar Chediak González.

Before the opening of the event, v President Cortizo Cohen held a meeting with the board of directors of Gafilat, headed by the president of the regional body, Jorge Omar Chediak González, the national coordinator of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay before Gafilat.

The delegations and organizations attending as observers participated from July 18 to 20 in working groups dealing with issues such as the prevention of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; virtual assets, regional training and use of financial intelligence products. All of them are mainly focused on the Latin American region.