Special licenses to Balboa Bank & Trust

United States Department of the Treasury issued special licenses to Balboa Bank & Trust

The United States Department of the Treasury issued special licenses to Balboa Bank & Trust and the bank’s brokerage, including last week at the Clinton List, as part of the so-called The Waked Money Laundering Organization (Waked MLO).

The grant will allow the Bank and the Brokerage entities to have access to the US financial system until June 14, 2016, the special licenses to Balboa Bank & Trust and other companies involved in the investigation are principal to protect companies’ employees.

The US Government with this decision is looking to give the companies some space to maneuver with the objective to minimize possible harmful effects over the Panamanian economy.

The special licenses may be extended or revoked at any time.

U.S. Ambassador for Panama John Feeley held a press conference on May 13, 2016, to justify the decision made by the Treasury Department to place individuals and companies linked to the Waked family on a sanctions list.

“We have seen the evidence. We have confirmed that the Waked organization was involved in money laundering in several countries” the ambassador said, adding “for years, Nidal Waked, Abdul Waked, and his accomplices abused the financial systems of the United States and Panama. Together they led an organization that has laundered money from drug trafficking.”

John Feeley reiterated that there is sufficient evidence involving Waked MLO with laundering drug money in several countries, resulting from an investigation made over a decade.

The licenses were granted to allow the viability of all financial transactions based on the recommendations adopted by the (interim) manager appointed by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama.

US citizens can continue their transactions with listed companies and have 10 working days to report them to the Office of Control of Foreign Assets of the United States Department of the Treasury.