The Panama Stock Exchange Goes International
By Juan Carlos Martinez
The Panama Stock Exchange is seeking foreign exposure and wants to attract global transactions. To do this it has approved a Remote Operator Agreement. Through which certain countries or jurisdictions recognized by it, may buy and sell securities or instruments through the Panama Stock Exchange.
Countries with important stock exchanges such as Japan, United States, Mexico, France, Germany, and Sweden will be able to carry out transactions in the Panama Stock Exchange after the National Securities Commission of Panama has approved their securities firms. This operation is expected to bring a lot more liquidity to the Panamanian stock market.
This agreement will add breadth and depth to the Panamanian stock market which is currently a small market where there are few secondary transactions and in which the greatest volume of transactions is in the primary market consisting of new issues, most of which are debt instruments such as bonds. The Panama Stock Exchange has indicated that it has approved USD800 million in new issuances, many of which are from the State as well as some from new players such as Bank Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Internacional de Costa Rica (BICSA), Union Fenosa and AES Latin American.
This development as well as the merger between the Panama Stock Exchange and Latinclear signify a new direction for the Panama Stock Exchange and hopefully growth in terms of volume and of new offerings for investors.
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