This article is from es.cointelegraph.com and the original article can be read here
Laurentino Cortizo, the president of Panama, has said he will not sign a cryptocurrency bill recently passed by the country’s National Assembly without additional anti-money laundering regulations.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Latin America conference on Wednesday, Cortizo said that the bill recently approved by the Panamanian legislature must go through legal checks before reaching his desk, but added that he needed more information before passing it into law. Describing the legislation as a “groundbreaking law” and a “good law,” the president said he approved of certain aspects of the bill, but hinted at potential illicit uses of cryptocurrencies that needed to be addressed.
“I’m not going to sign that law right now,” Cortizo said. “If the law has clauses related to money laundering activities – anti-money laundering activities – that is very important to us.”
Panama’s “Cryptocurrency Law” was approved in the National Assembly after the third debate on April 28. According to the legislature, the bill aimed to regulate “the trading and use of crypto assets, the issuance of digital value, the tokenization of precious metals and other assets, payment systems and other provisions”.
Unlike the Bitcoin Law of El Salvador, which forced local businesses to accept Bitcoin, Panama’s Cryptocurrency Law, if passed, will likely give residents and businesses the option to use and accept cryptocurrencies. According to a first draft of the bill, many businesses would not need a special license to accept cryptocurrencies.
Legislator Gabriel Silva, a supporter of cryptocurrencies, has suggested that the approval of the Cryptocurrency Law would help promote financial inclusion in Panama and create more employment opportunities. However, the economist Ernesto Bazán has asked President Cortizo to veto the bill, claiming that the lack of clear regulations in the country could not inspire confidence in cryptocurrencies, putting the financial stability of banks and the local economy at risk.
“It is essential to have competent professionals, supervision capacity and sufficiency, even more so in such a novel and specialized subject”, said Bazan. “Weak regulation would open a window of opportunity for more fraud, cyberattacks and criminal activities that would imply a loss of confidence in the country and its International Banking Center. […] We await the veto of the law and an exhaustive analysis of the risks that this regulation implies. For the good of the country”.
Silva helped introduce the Panama Cryptocurrency Law in the National Assembly in September 2021, the same day that El Salvador officially began recognizing Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. The bill left the Economic Affairs Committee on April 21 before being approved by the National Assembly on April 28 and is currently awaiting approval or veto by President Cortizo.
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