Agreement No. 10 (2026) Incorporating a Paragraph into Annex No. 1 of Agreement No. 1-2025 Regarding Politically Exposed Persons

Republic of Panama
Banking Superintendence of Panama
AGREEMENT No. 10-2026
(of October 15, 2026)
By which a paragraph is incorporated into Annex No. 1 of Agreement No. 1-2025 “Which adopts an enumerative guide of the catalog of positions of politically exposed persons”

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
In exercise of its legal powers, and
CONSIDERING:

That as a result of the issuance of Decree Law No. 2 of February 22, 2008, the Executive Branch prepared a systematic ordering in the form of a Single Text of Decree Law No. 9 of February 26, 1998 and all its modifications, which was approved through Executive Decree No. 52 of April 30, 2008, hereinafter the Banking Law;

That in accordance with article 4 of the Banking Law, the Banking Superintendence will have exclusive competence to regulate and supervise banks, the banking business, and other entities and activities assigned to it by other laws;

That in accordance with numeral 2 of article 5 of the Banking Law, it is the objective of the Banking Superintendence to strengthen and foster favorable conditions for the development of the Republic of Panama as an International Financial Center;

That article 112 of the Banking Law establishes that banks and other supervised subjects will have the obligation to establish policies, procedures, and internal control structures to prevent their services from being used improperly for the crime of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related or similar nature crimes;

That the Banking Law establishes in its article 113 that banks and other supervised subjects by the Superintendence will supply the information required of them by laws, decrees, and other regulations for the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related or similar nature or origin crimes, currently in force in the Republic of Panama. Likewise, it indicates that they will be obligated to supply said information to the Superintendence when it so requires;

That Recommendation 12 of the Financial Action Task Force indicates that financial institutions must be required, regarding the treatment of politically exposed persons, to carry out activities additional to regular due diligence measures, such as having appropriate risk management systems to determine if the client is a politically exposed person; approval by senior management to establish or continue commercial relationships with the referred client; adoption of reasonable measures to establish the source of wealth and the source of the client's funds; and carrying out continuous enhanced monitoring of the commercial relationship;

That through Law No. 23 of April 27, 2015, measures are adopted to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

That in accordance with what is established in numeral 1 of article 22 of Law No. 23 of 2015, it corresponds to the Banking Superintendence to supervise, in matters of prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, banks, trust companies, and other obligated subjects;

Agreement No. 10-2026

That Law No. 23 of 2015 in its article 4, numeral 18, defines politically exposed persons as those nationals or foreigners who perform prominent public functions at a high level or with command and jurisdiction in a State as, but not limited to, heads of State or government, high-profile politicians, high-ranking governmental, judicial, or military officials, high executives of state-owned companies or corporations, public officials who hold elected positions, among others, who exercise decision-making in public entities; as well as persons who perform or have been entrusted with important functions by an international organization, such as members of senior management (e.g., directors, deputy directors, and members of the board of directors or equivalent functions);

That Agreement No. 10-2015 of June 27, 2015 and its modifications, establishes parameters for the prevention of the improper use of banking and fiduciary services;

That Agreement No. 10-2015 establishes a definition of politically exposed person aligned with that developed in Law No. 23 of 2015 and indicates that banks and trust companies must adopt extended or reinforced due diligence of the client and/or ultimate beneficiary when it comes to persons classified as politically exposed, whether nationals or foreigners, and pay special attention, as well as take appropriate measures for such clients;

That through Agreement No. 1-2025, an enumerative guide of the catalog of positions of politically exposed persons is adopted, through which an Annex is incorporated that contains, by way of example and not limitation, a list of positions held by clients who could be considered as politically exposed persons due to their sensitive nature in matters of prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

That in working sessions of this Superintendence, the need has been manifested to modify Annex No. 1 of Agreement No. 1-2025 which adopts the Enumerative Guide of the Catalog of Positions of Politically Exposed Persons, with the purpose of illustrating to banks and trust companies the necessary methodology to establish their adequate control.

AGREES:

ARTICLE 1. A PARAGRAPH is incorporated into Annex 1 of Agreement 1-2025 titled “Enumerative Guide of the Catalog of Positions Considered Politically Exposed”

PARAGRAPH. EXCEPTION. For the purposes of this Guide, members of the boards of directors referred to in this Annex who have been designated by a State institution, exclusively to exercise oversight functions according to the Law, shall not be considered Politically Exposed Persons, provided that those designated persons do not have voting rights.

ARTICLE 2. The provisions of this Agreement will begin to govern from its promulgation.

Given in the city of Panama, on the fifteen (15) day of the month of October of two thousand twenty-six (2026).

NOTIFY, PUBLISH, AND COMPLY.

THE PRESIDENT, THE SECRETARY,
Felipe Echandi Lacayo David Alberto Davaro