While France continues to go through the Panama Papers, the Minister of Public Accounts Gérald Darmanin signed an agreement on Monday with Panama, still considered a tax haven by Paris. Objective: to strengthen the exchange of information between the two countries.

France and Panama will create a special group to fight against tax evasion through the exchange of information. The agreement was signed on Monday during the visit of French Minister of Public Accounts Gérald Darmanin to this country considered by Paris to be a tax haven.

"With the Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama, Hector Alexander, we signed a memorandum to bring our cooperation in tax matters to the level of international standards," wrote Mr. Darmanin on Twitter.

“Improve the exchange of information”

The text of the memorandum, communicated to AFP, provides for the creation of a bilateral special group which will meet twice a year and will contribute to "strengthening Franco-Panamanian cooperation" and "improving the exchange of information at fiscal character” .

However, Panama's exit from the French list of tax havens is not yet in sight because "it is only at the end of the process" of in-depth exchanges of information on French people suspected of tax evasion that it could be "studied" , said Gérald Darmanin in an interview with AFP.

"For the moment, we are going to work, and when we have the relationship of trust between the two countries, when the automatic exchanges (of information) (...) will be perfect, then indeed we will study the exit (from Panama) from the French list of tax havens, insisted the minister.

The Panama Papers have strained relations

Out of 500 tax evasion cases concerning French people revealed by the Panama Papers, around fifty have already been studied by Bercy. Requests for information on these files have received various responses from the Panamanian authorities, "sometimes incomplete" , indicated the French minister.

The French Minister of Public Accounts clarified that on certain accounts, “more than 130 million (euros) were requested by the French tax authorities from taxpayers” . France removed Panama from its list of tax havens in 2012 after signing an agreement with the Panamanian authorities, but put it back on its blacklist after the Panama Papers scandal in 2016.

The small Central American country has adopted reforms in its financial system in recent years to bring it into line with international standards. Since 2017, it has been exchanging financial information in accordance with OECD standards. These reforms allowed it to be removed from the list of tax havens of the European Union and the OECD.

However, the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recently reinstated it in its gray list of countries that do not cooperate sufficiently against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.