SUPERINTENDENCY OF BANKS

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

GENERAL RESOLUTION S.B. No. 02-2002
(of July 18, 2002)

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKS,
using her legal authority, and

WHEREAS:

CONSIDERANDO:

Pursuant to Article 27 of Law No. 6 of January 22, 2002, which

prescribes “Standards for the Transparency of the Public

Administration, stipulates the Habeas Data action and other

provisions”, it was provided that "within a term not greater than

six months, counted from the moment said law goes in effect, any

State agency or dependency, including those that compose the

Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, the decentralized

entities, autonomous and semiautonomous, the municipalities, the

local governments and community boards, if they do not have them,

must establish and order the publication in the Official Gazette

of their respective Codes of Ethics in order to exercise the

public function correctly";

Besides being an explicit legal order, the Superintendent of Banks

deems it necessary and convenient to gather in an organized and

systematic document, the ethical values and the principles that

the officers of the Superintendency of Banks must observe while

performing their functions;

The legal excerpt mentioned in the first paragraph stipulates that

the Codes of Ethics to which it refers will be gathered by the

People’s Defense Office, having been previously approved by each

one of the corresponding institutions;

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 of Decree Law No. 9 of

1998, the Superintendent will be in charge of the administration

and management of the Superintendency’s daily proceedings; and

Pursuant to Numeral 33 of Article 17, he/she must resolve

everything that is not expressly reserved for the Board of

Directors or another authority;

RESOLVES:

FIRST ARTICLE. Let the following Code of Ethics, applicable to

the public officials of the Superintendency of Banks, be approved

and adopted:



CODE OF ETHICS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
OF THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF BANKS

TITLE I
DEFINITIONS, APPLICATION SCOPE AND PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION SCOPE

Article 1: Definitions: For the purposes of applying and

interpreting this Code of Ethics, the following terms are defined

as:

*

Code of Ethics: Set of principles and norms of mandatory

observance, with recommendations that help the members of an

organization to behave correctly.

*

Ethics: Set of rules, principles and behavior models that

respond to propriety and rationality criteria, which are

identified with a good governance code.

*

Public Function: For the purposes of this Code, "public

function" is defined as any activity, temporary or permanent,

remunerated or honorary, executed in the Superintendency of Banks.

*

Public Official: For the purposes of this Code, the person

hired temporary or permanently to perform a position in the

Superintendency of Banks, whether he is remunerated or not.

*

Regulated Person: The natural or juridical persons who

exercise the Banking business in or from Panama, and the

representation offices as well as the natural or juridical persons

that own a trust license.

*

Interested Persons: For the purposes of applying the norms

contained in this Code, he is any person or entity that is or

will be directly or indirectly supervised by the Superintendency

of Banks, or who provides or will provide goods or services to the

Superintendency, as well as the banking system users.

Article 2: Application Scope.

All public officials of the Superintendency of Banks must respect

and observe this Code in their professional endeavors.

Any person that accepts performing a position in the

Superintendency, either as a hired employee or by contract,

remunerated or not, will be immediately subject to the observance

of the provisions and procedures stipulated in this Code.



CHAPTER II
GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 3: Probity.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must act with

integrity and honesty, seeking to satisfy the general interest

without attaining benefits or personal advantages, attained by

himself or by an intermediary. He is also obliged to display an

honest demeanor.

Article 4: Prudence.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must act with

complete knowledge of the issues subject to his consideration,

with the same diligence that a good administrator would use with

his own possessions. The exercise of public functions in the

Superintendency of Banks must inspire trust in the regulated

persons and in the general public. Likewise, he must avoid actions

that could jeopardize the public function’s end, the

Superintendency of Banks’ estate, and the image society should

have regarding its officials.

Article 5: Justice.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must be permanently

available for the fulfillment of his functions, giving each person

what he is due, in his relations with the State as well as with

the public, his superiors and subordinates.

Article 6: Temperance.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must perform his

functions with respect and sobriety, using the prerogatives that

are inherent to his position and the means he has available solely

for the fulfillment of his functions and duties.

Article 7: Suitability.

Suitability, understood as technical aptitude, or non-technical

aptitude in case of those public officials who hold positions that

do not require special technical training, is a special condition

for accessing and exercising public functions.

Article 8: Responsibility.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must perform his

duties faithfully.

Article 9: Obedience.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must observe the

orders imparted by his hierarchial superior, as long as they have

the formalities the case merits and have as their aim the

performance of service acts linked to the position’s functions,

unless manifest arbitrariness or illegality is involved. A

superior order does not exempt from responsibility the officer who

executes an act of manifest infringement of a constitutional or

legal precept.

Article 10: Independence of Criterion.

The Superintendency of Banks’ public official must not become

involved in situations, activities or interests that are

incompatible with his functions. He must abstain from any conduct

that could affect his independence of criterion while performing

his functions.

For more information, visit
Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá
Added for discussion

rajhere