Trust

Panamanian law establishes an exoneration from any tax, charge or duty on acts of constitution, modification or extinction of trusts, as well as on the transfer or transmission of assets given in trust and the profit originated from said assets, provided that the trust affects assets located overseas; or if it is money deposited by natural or legal persons whose income is not from Panamanian source or taxable in Panama; or on company shares whose income is not from Panamanian source, even when deposited in Panama.

a.

The assets of the trust constitute a different and separate patrimony from the personal assets of the constituent, and may not be seized or embargoed, if not for damages occasioned by the execution of the trust or in the case that they have been transferred into the trust with fraud and to the detriment of rights of third parties.

The trust can be set up by means of a public or private instrument; however, when it is established over real estate, it must necessarily be constituted by public instrument. The trustee, his representative and the officials authorized to carry out investigations related to the trust, by legal mandate, must maintain confidentiality.

A trust established under Panamanian law, may be subject to another jurisdiction and even execution may be subject only to foreign laws, or vice versa, if so provided in the instrument.

The fiduciary entity never acquires absolute ownership over the assets received in trust; once the contract expires, it returns them to the constituent, according to whom it indicates.