Panamanian Corporations vs. Panamanian Private Foundations.
by: Maria Cristina Lima

Having both a Panamanian Foundation, and a Corporation, have very different characteristics i.e.:

1. A Panamanian Corporation is allowed to pursue any commercial activity while a Panamanian Foundation is not established for that purpose.
2. When the client is of third age, who wants to organize its inheritance, a foundation is a way to do it, without loosing control of the assets during his/her live time.  The “regulation” is the instrument by means of which the founder expresses his/her will, in case that he/she dies.  The corporation is not an instrument that can be use to organize the inheritance of a person.
3. A Panamanian Corporation issues shares, meaning that the owner of such is the ones that have control over the corporation. A Foundation does not issue shares, meaning that the Foundation does not have owners that control it but it has beneficiaries.
4. A corporation has a foundation council while a corporation has directors and officers.
5. We would recommend a foundation when the only purpose of creating it is to protect the patrimony of its founder and in case of his/her dead, this patrimony will not be a part of an inheritance process. In conclusion, the patrimony of the founder and the patrimony of the foundation are totally separated from each other.
6. Regulations of a foundation can be given the same character as a will; the names of the beneficiaries of a foundation are never public since they do not appear in the Public Registry.

If you are interested in learning more on Panamanian Corporations please go to the following link: http://www.limayasociados.com/services.htm

If on the other hand you want to learn more on Panamanian Private Foundation please go to the following link: http://www.limayasociados.com/services2.htm

 

 

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