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Professional Services & Technology

How to search the Public Registry of Panama online: companies, properties and mortgages

How to search the Public Registry of Panama online: companies, properties and mortgages

In short: the Public Registry of Panama is the body where the country's companies, foundations, properties and mortgages are recorded. Its portal lets anyone check for free, from anywhere, who owns a property, who the directors of a company are, or whether a property carries a mortgage. Official certificates are requested online, take 24 to 48 hours and are valid for 30 days. It is the first check anyone should make before buying property or contracting with a Panamanian company. What is recorded in the Public Registry SectionWhat it contains MercantileCorporations, limited liability companies, foreign companies, private interest foundations: directors,…
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Digital procedures in Panama: Panamá Digital, electronic signature and what can already be done online

Digital procedures in Panama: Panamá Digital, electronic signature and what can already be done online

In short: Panama has moved a good part of its procedures online. Panamá Digital is the single portal where citizens register with their ID and access services from more than sixteen institutions; the qualified electronic signature, issued by the Public Registry, has the same legal validity as a handwritten one; and electronic invoicing is mandatory for almost all taxpayers. Police records, DGI tax clearance, Public Registry certificates and Immigration appointments are now obtained online without visiting an office. Panamá Digital: the single window Panamá Digital, run by the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG), centralises State procedures on one site.…
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Residency in Panama by investment: the three routes compared

Residency in Panama by investment: the three routes compared

In short: Panama offers three main residency routes for anyone arriving with capital or income of their own. Qualified Investor grants permanent residency in about 30 days with a minimum investment of 300,000 dollars in first-sale real estate (500,000 on the secondary market) or 500,000 in securities or deposits, under Executive Decree 17 of September 2026, which replaced Decree 722 of 2020. Friendly Nations grants two-year temporary residency, convertible to permanent, to nationals of a list of countries with a real estate investment of 200,000 dollars, an equivalent deposit or an employment contract. Pensionado grants permanent residency to anyone who…
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How to set up an offshore company in Panama: requirements, steps and obligations

In short: an offshore company in Panama is a corporation incorporated under Law 32 of 1927 that operates outside the country and, under the territoriality principle of the Tax Code, pays no tax in Panama on its foreign-source income. Setting it up requires three directors, a lawyer as resident agent and registration at the Public Registry. Since 2020 it also carries transparency obligations: a beneficial ownership registry, annual delivery of accounting records and, since 2026, economic substance rules. Panama left the FATF grey list in 2023 and is working to leave the European Union's tax list between late 2026 and…
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Private interest foundation in Panama: when it makes sense and when it does not, according to Legal Solutions Panamá

Private interest foundation in Panama: when it makes sense and when it does not, according to Legal Solutions Panamá

In short: the Panamanian private interest foundation is a legal entity with no owner and no shareholders that receives assets and manages them according to rules set by whoever creates it. It serves to organise a succession, separate assets from personal wealth and group together companies, accounts and properties spread across several countries; it is not for running ordinary businesses or for small estates, and it is not "a magic tax-saving tool". That is how two lawyers from Legal Solutions Panamá explained it in an hour-long webinar on foundations and international structures, in which Kathia Rivera compared the foundation with…
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Factoring in Panama: interview with Kathia Rivera and Celideth Gudiño on setting up a factoring company

Factoring in Panama: interview with Kathia Rivera and Celideth Gudiño on setting up a factoring company

In short: Panama has no specific factoring law, but it does have the pieces that make it viable: the assignment of receivables as the "backbone" of the transaction, the electronic invoicing law that recognises the invoice as a negotiable instrument, and a Superintendency that supervises, rather than regulates, the sector's companies on money laundering. That is how Kathia Rivera, president and founder of Legal Solutions Panamá, and Celideth Gudiño, financial services partner, explain it in a conversation recorded at the firm's offices in Panama City. Setting up a factoring company takes about seven days for the corporation, a month for…
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Kathia Rivera answers: incorporating a company in Panama as a foreigner, without travelling and in a week

Kathia Rivera answers: incorporating a company in Panama as a foreigner, without travelling and in a week

In short: Panamanian law imposes no nationality or residency limits on incorporating a company, and neither directors nor shareholders have to travel. That is the answer given by Kathia Rivera Morales, founder and president of Legal Solutions Panamá, in a video on her channel where she answers the most frequent questions from people who want to set up a company in the country. Incorporation takes around a week with valid passports and two forms; the resident agent is the lawyer who registers the articles of incorporation and acts as the link between the shareholders and the State; the share capital…
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Electronic invoicing in Panama: who is required, how the SFEP works and how to choose a PAC

Electronic invoicing in Panama: who is required, how the SFEP works and how to choose a PAC

In short: in Panama electronic invoicing has been mandatory for every new taxpayer since 2022, for government suppliers since 2023 and for independent professionals since 2024, and since 1 January 2026 the free invoicing tool of the Directorate General of Revenue may only be used by those invoicing up to 36,000 balboas a year and issuing at most 100 documents a month; everyone else must contract a Qualified Authorisation Provider (PAC). Each invoice is issued in XML format, validated before being delivered to the customer, receives a Unique Electronic Invoice Code (CUFE) and is represented in a readable receipt called…
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Panama as a digital hub: submarine cables, data centres and what it means for a technology company

Panama as a digital hub: submarine cables, data centres and what it means for a technology company

In short: Panama is the point where the submarine internet cables linking North and South America, and the Caribbean with the Pacific, cross. Seven systems run through its waters today, TAM-1 arrived in 2026 with a capacity of 650 terabits per second, the Cabinet Council awarded two new 20-year concessions and Google announced in August 2026 the Americas Connect project, with the Alisios cable linking the Dominican Republic, Panama and Chile. On that network rest 14 data centres, the Multinational Headquarters regime, Ciudad del Saber and the Tocumen air hub. Radar Panamá explains what the country has, what it lacks…
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