Bill 388.

Summary.

The bill establishes a procedure under which banks and financial entities operating in the Republic of Panama would recognize the limitation of their clients’ debts administratively, without a judicial declaration. It refers to Article 1652 of the Commercial Code, the Banking Law, identified as the consolidated text of Decree Law No. 9 of February 26, 1998, as amended, and Law 45 of October 31, 2007. It would cover banks holding general or international licenses, financial entities, savings and credit cooperatives, credit card issuers, and other legal entities supervised by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá) or another competent financial regulator.

A debtor could request recognition in writing or electronically. The entity would have to receive the request through its Complaints Handling System (Sistema de Atención de Reclamos, SAR) and acknowledge receipt. Under Article 36 of Law 45 of 2007, it would also have to give the consumer clear and accurate information on the status and total amount of the debt, interest, terms, fees, and any act interrupting the limitation period. The bill refers to Article 1652 of the Commercial Code, which sets a three (3) year period for claims arising from banking or financial contracts, negotiable instruments, and other commercial acts. Payments, acknowledgments of debt, and other legal grounds for interruption would require supporting documents. A lawsuit would interrupt the period only under the conditions in Article 669 of the Judicial Code. In light of the procedural defense addressed in Articles 690 and 693 of that Code, the bill would allow an administrative request even without pending litigation.

The procedure would run through each entity’s SAR under Articles 206 and 211 of the Banking Law. The entity would have thirty (30) days to decide; its decision would bind it and would be notified to the client in writing. A rejection would have to state its reasons and inform the client of the right to complain to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama within an additional thirty (30) days. Failure to respond by the deadline would count as acceptance. Recognition would extinguish the obligation for all legal purposes and require removal of the debt from internal records and reports to credit bureaus, including the Panamanian Credit Association (Asociación Panameña de Crédito, APC). The entity would notify the client and the credit bureau within ten (10) business days of the decision.

The Superintendency of Banks of Panama would supervise compliance and impose sanctions on banks, financial entities, and credit card issuers, including fines of B/.5,000.00 to B/.50,000.00 according to the seriousness of the breach, without prejudice to other legal liability. The Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, ACODECO) would have concurrent authority to investigate and sanction practices infringing consumer rights and coordinate financial consumer protection measures. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo), through the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas) and the Superintendency of Banks (Superintendencia de Bancos), would regulate request forms, credit bureau notices, and supervisory mechanisms within six (6) months of promulgation. The bill would repeal and amend conflicting legal provisions and take effect upon promulgation.

The proposal concerns those public authorities, the banking sector, savings and credit cooperatives, card issuers, credit bureaus, and financial consumers.