Cryptocurrency Bill In Panama Failed. The President Is Calling For Stricter Anti-Money Laundering Measures

Panama’s President Laurentino CORTIZO has called for tightening controls on anti-money laundering (AML) in a long-awaited bill aimed at regulating the use of cryptocurrencies passed by the general assembly. The president also refused to sign the bill until the changes are implemented.

The President noted that he needed guarantees that the bill complies with global anti-money laundering standards. In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) added Panama to its Gray list. After that, the country's financial leaders assured that they would take a series of measures aimed at strengthening measures focused on anti-money laundering (AML) and fighting the financing of terrorist (CFT) regimes.

Panama is set to join a growing list of countries looking to adopt cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. This list is headed by El Salvador. But the results of its experiments are still ambiguous. The Central African Republic recently made bitcoin legal tender, causing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to say that the decision poses risks to the economy.

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