PANAMA

The IV International Financial Summit of the Panama Banking Association was held on July 11 and 12. The event was Inaugurated by the Superintendent of Banks of Panama (SBP), Ricardo Fernandez who explained that the SBP is developing public policies to promote financial education and regulate sandbox use, an isolated testing environment that enables programs to be run or executed without affecting the platform on which they are being run.

In his opening speech, Fernandez emphasized that the Panamanian financial system needs innovation based on the two pillars of financial inclusion and the adoption of modern technologies in the banking system. He explained that the SBP is driving the creation of an inter-institutional financial education strategy to promote inclusion as its foundation for a public policy to bancarize 50% of the Panamanian population currently lacking access to the financial system.

Fernandez also added that the SBP is working to regulate financial technologies through work with banks and fintechs to develop two model sandboxes. The work will serve as input for a sandbox regulation regime similar to that in use in the United Kingdom and Singapore.