Last year, the Panamanian National Assembly approved the country’s crypto bill project, but its fate is now dependent on the decision of the Supreme Court.
Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo vetoed the project and its sanction is now in the court’s hands because the veto was rejected by Congress.
The bill
In 2021, the Panamanian cryptocurrency bill was introduced in the National Assembly and last year, the institution made the decision to pass it.
On January 18th, the document was sent to President Laurentino Cortizo for sanctioning the proposed bill in question.
However, he had a number of objections to the bill, which he issued before delivering it to the court. It will now be re-examined and there is a possibility of it being sanctioned, even without presidential support.
The Supreme Court of Panama will now decide the fate of the crypto bill and it will have to assess the arguments against and in favor of the approval of the crypto regulatory framework.
The National Assembly had discussed the bill and opted to lend its support to it once more in its existing form.
The objections
On January 26th, the Panamanian president shed some light on the procedures that would follow and the reasons behind rejecting the crypto bill.
According to the statement, the president rejected the bill that the National Assembly had approved because he believes that it needs to be adapted to the norms regulating the monetary model of the country and its financial system.
The articles that were specifically criticized by the president were Articles 34 and 36, which essentially meant that the entire bill was being criticized.
Cortizo refused to sign the crypto bill in its existing form because of concerns about crime financing and money laundering. But, the president did admit that the bill was an innovation and would be a good law.
Therefore, Congress and President Laurentino Cortizo have been at an impasse in regard to the crypto bill since May.
Other details
A partial veto measure had been exerted on the crypto bill by the president in the month of June when he criticized some aspects of the bill.
It had then been sent to the National Assembly for it to make the changes necessary for addressing the concerns put forward by the president, or to decide to push it forward as it is in order to get it approved.
Some of the National Assembly representatives had reacted quite negatively to the veto from the president.
They claimed that it would result in lost opportunities for the country to be able to attract investments from crypto firms and for achieving financial inclusion.
Some of the other countries in Latin America, such as Venezuela, El Salvador, and Brazil, have already introduced regulations in their respective regions that apply to crypto and crypto mining operations.
Panama wants to follow the same route with its crypto bill project but has had to face quite a lot of challenges so far.
