Panama law firm Advises in Securing Remittance License

Panama attorneys Lombardi Aguilar & Garcia advised a company in securing a license granted by the Panamanian government to operate a remittance agent.

Panama City, Panama, November 12, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Lombardi Aguilar & Garcia (www.laglex.com) attorneys advised a U.S.-owned subsidiary, in the process of obtaining a remittance agent license from the Directorate of Financial Enterprises of the Panama Ministry of Commerce and Industries (www.mici.gob.pa).

Although Panama hosts a financial center which has no limits on the repatriation of funds and use of foreign curencies, its government has enacted Law 48 of 2003 which requires that non-bank companies receiving funds on a regular basis for their remittance abroad through systems for transfer or tranmission of funds, settlement of funds or any other means, obtain a special license from the Directorate. This ensures that operators receiving funds for electronic transactions systems have information on their ownership, financial solvency and anti-money laundering measures subject to regular review and supervision by a government authority. The Directorate also provides special licenses for lending companies.

The participation of the law firm consisted in the filing, preparation and coordination of the process for obtaining the license to operate a remittance agent. The clients of the law firm are dedicated to offering innovative solutions, payment methods and transactional processing environments for financial entities, banking, government, merchants and consumers. The license holder also markets a variety of solutions oriented to the transactional processing and electronic payment methods environments applied to several technological platforms and markets, for local as well as regional use.

According to statistics of the Directorate of Financial Enterprises, Panama received US$81.4 million in remittances (largely US$46.8 million from the US) during the first half of 2007. US$66.3 million are sent to other countries (mostly US$26.3 million to Colombia by migrants of said country). Already a dozen companies are authorized by the DEF to provide remittance services.

About Lombardi Aguilar & Garcia
Lombardi Aguilar & Garcia was created as an alternative for clients worldwide who seek fast, innovative and effective solutions to their legal problems. The firm currently provides services to individual and corporate clients in Panama as well in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Its partners maintain a commitment with professional ethics and social responsibility by participating in the board of directors of groups such as the Panama Bar Association, the German and the American Chambers of Commerce (AMCHAM) of Panama, and the Association of Chinese-Panamanian Professionals (APROCHIPA).

The firm centers its law practice in private client services and asset protection (Private Interest Foundations, Trusts), business structures (Offshore Corporations), tax planning, real estate and e-commerce. It also advices in areas of Law such as Corporate, Commercial, Intellectual Property, Maritime, Tax, and Immigration Law as well as related litigation that may arise.

For more information, contact +507 340-6444, e-mail aaguilar (at) nysbar.com, or see: Lombardi Aguilar & Garcia http://www.laglex.com/

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International debit cards as tools against underdevelopment

In 2005, migrant workers in the U.S. sent $52 billion back to Latin America and the Caribbean. Now governments are working to leverage that money to promote economic development. Foreign-aid donors are working with microfinance groups to find ways to make the most of the remittance boom. In Jamaica, the U.S. Agency for International Development is helping the Jamaica National Building Society channel remittances more cheaply through debit cards. Profits from the money-transfer transactions equip rural schools with computers. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2005/nf20051228_4272.htm

At an IADB forum on remittances, a multinational network of migrant workers, businesses, credit unions, microfinance institutions and other financial players was featured using a debit card and the Internet to make everybody a winner. How does it work? Simple. At the core of the No Borders business there is a group of debit and stored-value cards issued through a network of affiliated partners of No Borders to individual cardholders in the United States and Latin America. Immigrant workers in the U.S. sending money home with the No Borders card are granted, at zero charge, one remittance transaction per month for up to $350 if they, and their beneficiaries back home, join credit unions in the No Borders network. The transaction costs are covered by a fee charged to financial institutions who want to join the network.

The cards can be reloaded and used for cash withdrawals and purchases at any authorized No Borders location, and can also be used as a payroll card for receiving payroll direct deposits. Funds from the cards can be transferred in real time to bank-issued debit cards, which can be then used for ATM withdrawals, purchases and other transactions.

The No Borders model also benefits cardholders in other ways, such as providing discount cards on health care, insurance, travel, and other products. In this way, affiliated financial partners benefit by increasing their share in the growing U.S. Hispanic market. http://www.iadb.org/news/articledetail.cfm?language=English&ARTID=2111

One of the most fascinating stories at the KDNC Second Business Workshop was told by Dr. Edward Wambugu, D.Ed., an educator in Chicago, IL. Dr. Wambugu travels to Kenya and five years ago he obtained three checking account debit cards from his bank in Chicago, and gave one to his contractor in Kahiga village, one to his brother in Kenya, and kept one with him. The contractor was responsible for building the shop, and his brother kept an eye to make sure that the project was going as planned. Dr. Wambugu instructed the contractor, and his brother, that they could withdraw money at a bank in Nyeri only when Dr. Wambugu called. He would authorize small quantities like $100 to $200 per month. The shop was done in no time ... http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/topic/remittances?page=3

A front page article in the July 27 Wall Street Journal describes Citigroup's efforts to persuade "Mexico's long-neglected working class … to replace the rolls of pesos they fold into money belts with debit cards, credit cards and bank passbooks." It is part of Citigroup's experiment to "move down market in developing countries," including Brazil, India, China and other "fast-growing economies," the article says. http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?fpa=0&id=17721

IADB President Luis Moreno points out that "Latin America’s thriving microfinance sector is a leader in this trend. In addition to extending millions of small loans to people shunned by traditional banks, microfinance institutions are now offering debit cards, housing loans and money transfer services aimed at leveraging the remittances Latin American immigrants send home, which last year rose to $53.6 billion. According to the latest IDB research, these remittances are forecast to surpass $60 billion in 2006." http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?artID=3347&language=EN&arttype=SP

With banks becoming imposing more requirements for the opening of international accounts for non-residents, reloadable debit cards provide an easy alternative for cross-border transfer of funds. Cards which allow to use more than 843,000 PLUS® ATMs worldwide, are helpful to have US funds available from Panama's local ATMs, at rates lower than Western Union and bank transfers.

	TravelersCash™ – Travel Cash card
	The prepaid travel card that gives you 24 hour access to your traveler funds in any local currency. This reloadable Card that isn't linked to your bank account. And if it's lost or stolen, your balance is replaced within 24 hours.