Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Former Panama presidents face corruption charges.
Panama’s last two presidents, Ricardo Martinelli and Juan Carlos Varela, were charged Thursday with money laundering, as two separate scandals tarnished the political legacy of the former allies turned enemies.
Martinelli was charged with money laundering over the so-called “New Business” case in which a publishing group was allegedly purchased with government funds during his 2009-14 term.
Martinelli, 68, was in a combative mood as he departed the public prosecutor’s office in Panama City.
“I’m going to be frank with you, this pisses me off, this political persecution that has no end… they want to involve me (in the case) in order to do away with me,” he said, after refusing to testify.
Source: Yahoo News
Long-term consequences of river damming in the Panama Canal.
Humans have manipulated and managed rivers with dams for millennia. The number of river dam projects is predicted to rise sharply in the future, especially in the tropics where demand for hydroelectricity and water is accelerating.
Over a century ago, the Chagres River was dammed to form Gatun Lake, the principal waterway of the canal and at the time the largest man-made lake in the world.
Jorge Salgado, STRI fellow and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nottingham, led a team that retrieved sediment cores from a basin in the lake and, with paleoecological techniques and historical records from the Panama Canal Authority, built a chronological sequence of biological and environmental changes.
Their findings were recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Source: Phys.Org
Five multinationals establish HQs in Panama.
The establishment of five headquarters of multinational companies with an initial investment of $38 million has been approved by The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Mici).
“After complying with all the requirements set forth in Law No. 41 of 2007, the companies Spectrum Biomedical Latam (Canada), Inceca Regional Services, Inc. (Nicaragua), ABB Central America and the Caribbean, SA (Switzerland), Alórica Panama (United States States), and EY Latam North Holding, SA (the United Kingdom and the USA), will be able to start operations soon, said a Mici statement,
According to Mici the multinational companies are related to the manufacture of medicinal products, beverage production and distribution, electricity generation, call center services, and audits and tax services.”
Source: MENA FN
Why You Should Open a Panama Bank Account.
Considering moving to Panama or doing business in Panama? Where and how you bank is something you need to think about, and with priority.
If you are relocating to Panama, either as an expat, retiree, or investor, chances are you have a bank account from your home country, or the country where you do your business in. Many of these banks are international, and thanks to the nature of digital banking in the 21st-Century, business can be done from anywhere without actually changing your bank account or moving it to another financial jurisdiction. There are, however, a few catches.