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France and Panama want to create a special group to fight against tax fraud. Gérald Darmanin, the French Minister of Public Accounts, met his counterpart Hector Alexander on Monday 19 August and also met with Foreign Minister Alejandro Ferrer. The two men signed an agreement to improve the exchange of tax information between the two countries.
The text signed by the two countries provides for the creation of a special and bilateral group that would meet twice a year. For Panama, this is an opportunity to improve its image.
With this agreement, Panama hopes to get out of the French list of tax havens. For the government, this option is conceivable. But Gerald Darmanin has warned that it will be on the table after a perfect tax cooperation.
With the Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama, Hector Alexander, we signed a memorandum to bring our cooperation in tax matters to the level of international standards.
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This cooperation mainly concerns French tax evasion cases revealed in 2016 by the Panama Papers scandal. There are 500 in all. And for the moment, only 50 have been studied. Bercy also regrets sometimes incomplete information on these files.
One year to leave the international gray list
Panama was once considered by France as a reliable partner in tax matters. In 2012, Paris had even removed it from the list of tax havens. But after the Panama Papers , he immediately rebased on the blacklist.
Since then, the country has been trying to show off. He undertook further reforms of his financial system. This allowed him to leave the list of tax havens in the European Union and the OECD.
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But this small country in Central America remains on the gray list of the International Financial Action Group. The new president, Laurentino Cortizo , who took office in July, gave himself 12 months to get out.