Leading banking institutions around the world and in Panama turn to Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega for its lawyers’ wide expertise on complex banking laws and regulations, and the business issues affecting the banking industry.

The firm has been instrumental in securing banking and trust licenses for leading international and domestic banks, and regularly appears before the Superintendent of Banks on behalf of clients.

ARIFA lawyers frequently participate in governmental and industry committees set up to draft or revise banking laws and regulations or to discuss issues pertaining to the industry.

On the transactional arena, ARIFA regularly represents local, international, private, public, and multilateral lenders in different kinds of matters ranging from the financing of the largest public and private infrastructure projects in the country and PPP financings to more ordinary, secured and unsecured corporate loans. In this group, ARIFA also represents lenders, aircraft lessors and lessees, industry providers and airlines in all types of cross-border leasing and financings.

Interest in financial technology has grown in the past decade and ARIFA is one of the leading law firms in Panama advising on fintech initiatives. Our track record of being at the forefront of financial regulation and innovation in Panama gives our fintech clients access to a team prepared to guide them through the challenges of the local regulatory landscape. We leverage our unparalleled experience in Corporations, Banking and Finance, Securities Regulation, Taxation, and Intellectual Property as a multidisciplinary team to advise our fintech clients through the current regulatory environment. Our team has experience advising clients with initiatives involving exchange platforms, payment platforms, peer-to-peer lending, custody of assets, blockchain, crypto-assets and smart contracts, among others.

Representative Clients

Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, Banco General, Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, Bancolombia, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, CAF, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Global Bank Corporation, Goldman Sachs & Co, International Finance Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Bank of Nova Scotia, The Bank of Tokyo, The International Finance Corporation, The International Monetary Fund, UBS, Wells Fargo/Wachovia, WestLB and Unicredit.