Panama — Country Risk Report

Panama (Americas • Central America). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Moderate country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Panama's country risk score is 4.1/10, placing it in the moderate-risk band. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Panama is not currently FATF grey- or black-listed. Panama is not subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions. Firms should apply additional scrutiny where exposure involves state-linked entities, restricted sectors, sensitive technology, dual-use goods or politically exposed counterparties.

Recommended treatment

Standard due diligence, with enhanced checks for defined risk triggers.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Not currently listed (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
  • Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: possible, screen applicable persons, entities and sectors
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.4/10
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 33/100, rank #116 of 182
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 4.1/10 (Moderate)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Limited supporting information. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

All three parts of the score are available.

How this score was calculated

  • Financial crime controls: 5.6/10 — 50% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.4/10 — 30% of this score
  • International sanctions: 0.0/10 — 20% of this score
  • The FATF assessment is more than eight years old.

International sanctions contributes 0.0 because the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level sanctions programme. People or organisations connected to the country may still appear on sanctions lists.

Show the exact calculation

aml 5.6 × 50% + governance 4.4 × 30% + sanctions 0 × 20% = 4.1; final 4.1

Principal risk drivers

  • Corruption (WGI) — 6.3/10

Mitigating factors

  • Not currently on the FATF grey or black list.
  • No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
  • Comparatively stronger political stability (3.0/10).
  • Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

  • Customer onboarding (Medium): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
  • Payments and transactions (Medium): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
  • Trade and export activity (Medium): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
  • Corporate clients (Medium): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
  • Ongoing monitoring (Medium): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

  • Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
  • Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
  • Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
  • Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
  • Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
  • Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

  • State ownership / control
  • PEP involvement
  • Sensitive / restricted sectors
  • Opaque ownership
  • Adverse media
  • Dual-use goods & technology
  • High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Not currently listed

Panama is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary.

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: No
  • EU: No
  • UK: No
  • US: No

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

  • Government Effectiveness: 56/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 54/100
  • Rule of Law: 52/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via GAFILAT.

Last mutual evaluation: 2018 · report

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Egmont Group member (UAF-Panama)

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Not currently listed
  • International sanctions: no listed programme identified
  • EU tax list: Listed (Annex I)
  • BO register: Restricted (live since 2020)
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 33/100, rank #116 of 182
  • Rule of law (WGI): 4.6/10 risk

Sector exposure

  • Banking & payments (Low): No FATF listing, rule-of-law governance within normal range
  • Trade & export controls (Low): No sanctions programme or FATF black-list constraint identified
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Low): No FATF listing, accountability governance within normal range
  • Real estate & luxury assets (Elevated): Elevated corruption exposure (CPI 33/100)
  • State-linked & procurement (Elevated): State-capture exposure (corruption WGI 6.3/10)

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

Panama: analysis

Panama's profile is driven primarily by its governance indicators, with corruption (WGI) the heaviest contributor. Rule of law and institutions (moderate) adds further pressure, though political stability (strong) and voice and accountability (moderate) represent relative strengths. The CPI reading places Panama, consistent with the elevated corruption signal. No FATF listing or sanctions apply. Panama sits above the global midpoint for governance on the World Bank indicators, broadly in line with its moderate risk picture.

Outlook

Panama's trajectory will depend on the effectiveness of ongoing institutional reforms and the depth of AML supervision applied to its international financial sector. Absent FATF listing pressures, incremental governance improvement remains plausible, but the structural role of the jurisdiction as a financial hub means corruption and rule-of-law risks will persist as the dominant watchpoints.

Key watchpoints

  • Corruption indicators: any deterioration in WGI Corruption scores or CPI ranking.
  • AML legislative developments and effectiveness of supervisory action in the financial services sector.
  • FATF mutual evaluation outcomes and any change to listing status at future plenaries.
  • Rule-of-law trends, particularly judicial independence and enforcement capacity.

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Not listed (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: None identified (as of Jul 2026)
  • Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
  • Corruption (CPI): 33/100 (as of 2025)
  • RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: none. No FATF call-for-action or increased-monitoring status was identified at the latest plenary. This does not establish low risk.

Contextual signals (not scored)

  • FATF network membership: FATF regional network: GAFILAT (present, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Listed in Annex I (present, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: UAF-Panama (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Beneficial-ownership register: Restricted (live since 2020) (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Transparency International CPI: 33/100, rank 116 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

  • FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
  • FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31; follow-up 2019-08; base assessment 2018-01
  • World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
  • UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-16

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

FAQ

Is Panama on the FATF grey list?

No. Panama is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary. FATF listing is one AML indicator; absence from the list does not by itself make Panama low risk. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Panama subject to sanctions?

No country-level programme was identified. In the approved RegActions snapshot, no comprehensive or targeted country-wide sanctions programme was found for Panama, but individual listed persons may still exist, so firms should continue to screen counterparties against the applicable lists.

What is Panama's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Panama at 4.1/10 (Moderate risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Panama 33/100 (rank #116 of 182).

What due diligence applies to Panama?

Standard due diligence, with enhanced checks for defined risk triggers. This is decision-support based on Panama's FATF status, governance and sanctions signals, and is not a substitute for a firm's own risk assessment.

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)