• One of the least indebted countries in the Americas (58.4% debt-to-GDP ratio, compared to 128% in the US and 93% in Brazil).
• The US Dollar is the currency in circulation, but the country has no central bank and no legal tender laws.
• Ranked 56th in the Index of Economic Freedom (Brazil is 133rd).
• A country with a strong history of asset protection and low taxes.
• A financial, business, and travel hub in Latin America.
• Crypto-friendly and welcoming legislation is currently being proposed.
• A history of stability; it has never experienced a civil war or revolution.
• Spanish is the official language, but there is a high level of English proficiency in the financial industry. All banks have websites and apps available in English.

Banks in countries like Canada or global fintechs like Wise will block or suspend your account if they see any crypto-related transactions.

If your income or source of funds comes from crypto, banks in countries like Uruguay won't even open an account for you.

Having a bank account that allows you to:

1. Use crypto as a source of funds
2. Deposit directly into the account with crypto
3. Exchange between stables and dollars at will
4. Transact freely to and from exchanges worldwide

This is available in very few stable tax havens, and usually with much higher deposit minimums. For example, in Liechtenstein, you need to deposit a minimum of 500,000 CHF.

This makes the crypto-friendly account a perfect bridge between the crypto world and traditional banking.

It is notoriously difficult to open accounts in Panama, especially if you are not a resident or physically present in the country. The process involves multiple forms, rigorous checks, and physical presence. Without a VIP contact like ours, forget about opening one remotely.

Settee offers:

• Completely remote bank account opening
• Expedited opening process (less than 1 week)
• Simplified opening procedure
• Residency or ties to Panama are not required for opening
• VIP contact within the bank, greater flexibility in rules, and priority handling
• Account opening guarantee or your money back

There are no minimum wealth or income requirements. The request for 3 months of bank statements is primarily to show the bank that you have activity with another institution.

This document can be replaced by a tax return.

This could be an obstacle, but through our VIP service, it is not.

The bank understands that our clients are largely international business people and nomads. For compliance purposes, you still need to provide an address, but you can use your current place of stay or your last tax residence.

To open a crypto-friendly account, an on-chain analysis of your address will be performed. For this, the bank requires a BTC or ETH address that you use and that has an active balance.

You do not need to provide all of your addresses or wallets. If you plan to make a deposit via crypto, it is recommended to provide the address of the wallet from which the transaction will be sent.

This will depend on where you are a tax resident. In short:

• If you live in a country that has remittance-based taxation (like Malta, the UK, Ireland, Mauritius, Thailand, Japan, or Korea under the non-dom system), then a foreign bank account can help you pay less tax.
• If you live in a territorial tax country (like Paraguay, Georgia, Uruguay, or Malaysia), then a foreign bank account can help you pay less tax.
• If you live in a country with worldwide income taxation (like Brazil), then generally you will not pay less tax with a foreign bank account. There may be exceptions under special programs, such as Portugal's NHR.

Panama participates in the following international information exchange mechanisms:

• FATCA: Information exchange with the US regarding accounts held by US citizens and companies.
• CRS: Multilateral information exchange with dozens of countries. Full list on the OECD website.
• DTTs: Panama has signed double taxation agreements with Barbados, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
• TIEAs: Panama has signed tax information exchange agreements with Barbados, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

If your country of tax residence reported during account opening is on one of these lists, then yes. Otherwise, no.

Since Brazil is part of the CRS, if you report Brazil as your tax residence, there will indeed be an exchange of information for personal accounts.

No bank is perfect, after all. Some downsides of this account include:

• Higher fees compared to fintechs or crypto platforms.
• As is typical with Caribbean banks, the website and app offer only basic functionality. It needs an update, but it is currently being redesigned.
• Only BTC, USD, and USD stablecoins are available.
• Panama exchanges tax information through CRS and FATCA.
• Panama is on the EU blacklist, so transactions to and from the bloc with this account may raise suspicions on the European side.
• Latin America is the continent of "mañana." As such, service can be slower or less efficient than its American or European counterparts.

Payment can be made via international wire transfer in USD, EUR, or with cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, USDC, or USDT. To do this, contact us. We also accept payments via card or PayPal with an additional 5% fee.

If you are interested, you can request a personal account opening via Card here. For corporate accounts, please contact us.

We can issue an invoice for the service. Please send us your preferred billing address.

Yes, if you have specific questions about offshore accounts or about residency and business in Panama, we would be happy to help. Please also read the fact sheet and our articles above, where many other questions are answered. If you have further questions, you can of course also book a consultation with our team.

If you would like to obtain residency or open a company in Panama, we also have trusted lawyers in Panama City who can assist you with the process. To do so, simply get in touch.

You will be redirected to our partner who handles account openings in Panama. They will guide you through the entire process.