In 1988, the US invasion of Panama resulted in the closure of the latter’s banking system for nine and a half weeks. “We grew up stronger,” recalls Javier Carrizo Esquivel, CEO of state-owned Banco Nacional de Panamá (BNP).
The sustained growth of the Panamanian economy over the following 30 years has made the country a reference point for the region. “This economic maturity has produced a number of opportunities in the financial sector,” says Ignacio Vollmer, executive chairman of Mercantil Holding Financiero Internacional, Mercantil Banco and Capital Bank.
