Panama

Regulations

• Can financial institutions use AWS?

  Yes. Financial institutions in Panama are permitted to use cloud services, provided that they comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, such as those described below. 

• Who are the financial regulators?

  The Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá or “SBP” (Superintendent of Banks of Panama) is the governmental authority responsible for the supervision of banking and credit institutions in Panama.

  The Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores or “SMV” (Superintendent of the Securities Market) is Panama’s supervisory authority for capital markets.

  The Superintendencia de Seguros y Reaseguros de Panamá or “SSR” (Superintendence of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama) regulates the insurance market and insurance companies.

• What regulations apply to financial institutions using AWS?

  Financial Institutions in Panama may be subject to a number of different legal and regulatory requirements when they use cloud services. Relevant regulations include the following:

  • Acuerdo No. 009-2005 Outsourcing regulation (issued by the SBP)

  • Acuerdo No. 006-2011 Guidelines for electronic banking and the management of related risks (issued by the SBP)

  • Acuerdo No. 003-2012 and Acuerdo No. 005-2018 Guidelines for management of information technology risk (issued by the SBP and the SMV, respectively)

  The above framework covers a variety of contractual and operational areas, including due diligence, risk management, business continuity, and monitoring and oversight. Financial institutions are encouraged to implement the Technology Risk Management Guidelines on a voluntary basis within 2 years from the date of the Guidelines.
  

  Customers that have questions about the applicable regulations and guidelines, and how these may apply to their use of AWS services, can reach out to their account representative.

  Regulations are changing rapidly in this space, and AWS is working to help customers proactively respond to new rules and guidelines. AWS encourages its financial institutions customers to obtain appropriate advice on their compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements that are relevant to their business, and local regulations, guidelines and laws.

• Key considerations for financial institutions using AWS

  AWS is committed to offering customers a strong compliance framework and advanced tools and security measures that customers can use to evaluate meet, and demonstrate compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

  Financial institutions who are using or planning to use AWS services can take the following steps to better understand their compliance needs:

  1. Consider the purpose of the workload(s) under consideration and the relevant categories of data in order to anticipate which legal and regulatory requirements may apply.

  2. Assess the materiality or criticality of the relevant workload(s) in light of local requirements. For example, the SBP and SMV require regulated entities to obtain prior approval and notification, respectively, for the use of cloud services outside of Panama provided by a third party such as AWS.
  

  3. Review the AWS Shared Responsibility Model and map AWS responsibilities and customer responsibilities according to each AWS service that will be used. Customers can also use AWS Artifact to access AWS’s audit reports and conduct their assessment of the control responsibilities.

  Customers who have further questions about how AWS services can enable their security and compliance needs, or who would like more information, can contact their account representative.

• Key data privacy and protection considerations for financial institutions using AWS

  Financial institutions in Panama using AWS services should also consider applicable privacy requirements, including:

  • Ley No. 81, the Panama Privacy Law, published in March 2019 and effective as of January 1, 2021

  • Article 111 of the Panamanian Banking Act

  • Executive Decree No. 52 adopting Decree Law 9 1998, as modified by Decree Law 2 2008

  • Article 241(8) of the Panamanian Insurance Act

  • Law 12 of 2012

  • Article 9 of Acuerdo 002-2011 issued by the SMV

  The AWS whitepaper, Using AWS in the Context of Common Privacy and Data Protection Considerations provides useful information to customers using AWS cloud services to store or process personal data.

  If Customers process or are planning to process the personal data of data subjects in the European Union (EU), they should visit AWS’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Center.

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