Panama

IBCF Services inPanama

Entity Formations and Foreign Registrations

IBCF assists companies, and legal & tax professionals from start to finish when forming or registering in Panama. Based on your business needs, IBCF can provide the information necessary to choose the right structure for you. The most common entity structures our clients have chosen are the Panamanian Corporation or LLC. An alternative option may also be to incorporate a branch or representative office.

 

The Panamanian Corporation, also known as “Sociedad Anonima” is commonly incorporated by foreign entrepreneurs. A Minimum of 3 directors and 1 shareholder must be listed, of which can be of any nationality or place of residence and a $1 USD minimum initial share capital is required. One of the key advantages of the Corporation, is directors and shareholders do not have to lodge their personal information as public record.

 

The LLC in Panama, much like the corporation, must list 3 directors and 1 shareholder of any nationality or place of residence. The minimum capital required is the same as the corporation, $1USD. However, unlike the corporation, the information of the directors and shareholders must be made public.

A branch office is Panama is a 100% foreign owned entity. It is a local establishment of a foreign entity. The business activities will be defined by the parent company, but some of the advantages of this structure is that it does not need to maintain a physical office in Panama, invoice and receive income from Panamanian customers and enter into contracts. Unlike a branch office, the representative office in Panama does not intend to carry out business. This office generally engages in activities such as market research and promoting the business of the parent company.

Registered Agent/Registered Office

For additional information about this service, speak with a corporate specialist directly at +1 845 398 0900 or complete the contact form and a corporate specialist will contact you shortly.

Document Retrievals (i.e Good Standing, Certified Copy)

The public registry in Panama can confirm the status of a Panamanian company and confirms if the company is in Good Standing or if there any proceedings which can infer dissolution or a strike off at the registry. The certificate issued is issued by the Public Registry of Panama and will also provide additional information on the company such as Share capital, duration, registered address, registration date and directors and officers to name a few. The certificate is issued in Spanish, but a translation, whether certified or plain, can be included for an additional fee.  The public registry also issues certified copies of the Articles of Association and Certificate of Formation.

Apostilles/Legalizations

Panama is party to the Hague Convention and therefore can accept and issue the apostille for countries also party to the Hague Convention.

 

For countries that do not accept the apostille, Panama is home to a variety of Consulates and Embassy’s that can legalize a document to be used in a Non-Hague country. A document originating in a Non-Hague country can be legalized at a Panamanian consulate or embassy to be used in Panama.

Due Diligence Searches (i.e Lien, Judgment, Bankruptcy)

A certified company search which will give the details of the company such as formation date, registered agent/registered office and Directors and Shareholders depending on the entity structure, along with any other information that may be publically available. However, it’s fairly common practice to use Nominee Directors in Panama so you may wind up with names and addresses of people in the law firm who did the formation.

 

Information on Liens, Litigation, judgments, bankruptcy and other due diligence checks are available, however are limited to territorial limitations, updates made by corresponding authorities, availability of information a judge may allow and limitations of confidentiality required by Panamanian law.

Compliance

Doing business in a foreign jurisdiction is time consuming enough, let alone the corporate governance and reporting that goes with it.

Partnering with IBCF as your single point of contact can assure you that your critical corporate compliance requirements are handled in a timely, expeditious and cost conscious manner.

An overview of our corporate compliance offerings include:

• Manage yearly jurisdictional compliance requirements and information
• Preparation and filing of statutory filings with corporate registry
• Maintenance of corporate information on compliance specific platform
• Due date tracking capabilities
• Maintain company shareholders and minutes
• Prepare board and/or shareholder resolutions
• Prepare and file audit documents related to corporate changes
• Prepare and file director, officer and shareholder changes
• Prepare meeting documents
• Registered Agent/Registered Office
*Availability of Services are subject to change

For additional information and pricing about our corporate compliance offerings, please contact us and a compliance specialist will contact you shortly.