Business
Corporations, foundations and a transparency overhaul
The 1927 Corporation Law made Panama a major incorporation centre, and the private-interest foundation added an estate-planning vehicle in 1995. Since 2016 the regime has been rebuilt around transparency: resident agents must hold beneficial-ownership data, accounting records are mandatory, and a central register now exists.
Key rules
- A sociedad anónima needs two subscribers, a resident agent who must be a Panamanian lawyer, and three directors.
- Accounting records must be kept and made available to the resident agent under Ley 52 of 2016 and Ley 254 of 2021.
- Beneficial owners must be filed in the Registro Único de Beneficiarios Finales.
- Failure to maintain records or pay the annual franchise tax leads to suspension and eventual striking off.
- Free-zone and multinational-headquarters regimes (SEM, EMMA) offer separate tax and immigration benefits.
Governing law
- Ley 32 de 1927 sobre Sociedades AnónimasCorporations.
- Ley 25 de 1995Private-interest foundations.
- Ley 52 de 2016 y Ley 254 de 2021Accounting records and transparency.
In practice
Panama exited the FATF grey list in 2023 but compliance expectations remain high; banks require full economic substance documentation. The resident-agent requirement means a local lawyer is unavoidable.