ABP: Banking controls worked with Urrego

The Banking Association of Panama (ABP), in light of the most recent money laundering case, disagrees that the banking system should take responsibility for failed controls.

The alleged drug dealer Jose Nelson Urrego was captured Saturday in Panama City, and investigations have revealed that he managed to lauder close to 13 million dollars in local banks.

“The bank received a client that had legalized his status in Panama, in a record time,” according to reports, “And once the transactions were detected as suspicious, the accounts were closed and the proper authorities notified,” commented the ABP’s President Alexis Arjona.

The banker maintains that it was not the banking system that failed, but rather that they gave him a license. “The bank did meet its responsibilities and followed all that was required by law,” he pointed out.

Although the ABP’s president believes that it is not the law that are failing, she informed that this profession, as it often does, works in junction with the Bank Superintendent in the updating and strengthening of banking laws and Law 42, that dictates the laws about money laundering.

“The Banking Association of Panama is committed to fighting against money laundering, and that can be seen in all congresses and forums that we give annually to update ourselves about the latest tendencies of this crime,” commented the director of the banking profession.