The Register · Panamá
Who lends in Panamá, and who owns them.
Every bank's local loan book, licence and owner group, read from the Superintendencia de Bancos' own workbooks, month by month since 2017. Each figure traces to a document and its SHA-256 fingerprint.
US$66.1bnLocal loans, all 39 reporting banks, Aug 2026
43.6%Held by the three largest private groups: Banco General, BAC, Grupo BSC
30.5%Sits at banks that changed owner, merged or absorbed another bank's book since June 2025
NoneDeposit insurance, as of the IMF's January 2024 assessment, which asked Panamá to create one
Ownership
Four groups, and what changed.
13.8% of local loans
BAC
US$9.1bn · +4.0% in twelve months
- SBP authorises BAC International Bank's absorption of Multi Financial Group (Multibank); BAC survives.
Resolución SBP-BAN-R-2026-00284: merger by absorption of Multi Financial Group and Multibank into BAC International Bank · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 50e97f2d4e93 - Banco de Bogotá completes the sale of 99.57% of Multi Financial Group (Multibank's parent) to BAC International Corporation for US$464 million.
Grupo Aval Form 20-F FY2025: sale of 99.569% of Multi Financial Group to BAC International Corporation, US$464 million · US SEC / Grupo Aval · sha256 b5f284ee4cb6 - Moody's credit opinion on BAC International Bank, 1 April 2026 (hosted by BAC, uploaded July 2026) · Moody's via BAC Credomatic · sha256 d3586691515b
- BAC achieves investment-grade rating from Fitch Ratings · BAC Credomatic · sha256 554cdc2295fd
12.0% of local loans
Grupo BSC / Cuscatlán
US$7.9bn · -1.5% in twelve months
- Grupo Cibest completes the sale of 100% of Banistmo to Banco La Hipotecaria for US$1.418 billion.
Grupo Cibest 2Q26 results press release (Form 6-K) · US SEC / Grupo Cibest S.A. · sha256 0d17ccf6ab9b - SBP authorises the change of control of Banistmo.
Resolución SBP-BAN-R-2026-00378: transfer of 100% of Banistmo shares to Banco La Hipotecaria · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 2d522c2ef62b - Closing of the purchase of La Hipotecaria by the Cuscatlán group, disclosed to the El Salvador exchange.
Hecho de importancia: closing of the La Hipotecaria acquisition · Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador · sha256 17fb878777da - SBP authorises the change of control of Banco La Hipotecaria.
Resolución SBP-BAN-R-2025-00333: transfer of La Hipotecaria (Holding) to Inversiones Cuscatlán Centroamérica · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 ccf57a9684ae
4.7% of local loans
Davivienda
US$3.1bn · -15.5% in twelve months
- Davivienda (Panamá)'s local loan book goes from US$855m in November to US$2,884m in December 2025.
Sistema Bancario Nacional: saldo de créditos al comercio local por banco, incl. préstamo local total (ene 2017–ago 2026) · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 0e795ed19722 - Scotiabank reports completing the transfer of its Panamá operations to Davivienda.
Scotiabank completes transfer of Colombia, Costa Rica and Panamá banking operations to Davivienda Group (6-K exhibit) · US SEC / Bank of Nova Scotia · sha256 756f03e08788 - SBP authorises the voluntary liquidation of The Bank of Nova Scotia's Panamá branch.
Resolución SBP-BAN-R-2025-00785: voluntary liquidation of The Bank of Nova Scotia, Sucursal Panamá · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 c25e26f4572e - SBP authorises the transfer of the assets and liabilities of The Bank of Nova Scotia's Panamá branch to Davivienda (Panamá) (SBP-BAN-R-2025-00505, cited in the SBP list).
Resolución SBP-BAN-R-2025-00785: voluntary liquidation of The Bank of Nova Scotia, Sucursal Panamá · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 c25e26f4572e
17.8% of local loans
Banco General
US$11.7bn · +5.2% in twelve months
- No change of owner on file since 2025.
All banks
39 banks, ranked by local loans.
| # | Bank | Group | Capital (SBP) | Local loans, US$m | Share | 12 months | 2017–2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banco General, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Banco General | Panamá | 11,722 | 17.75% | +5.2% | |
| 2 | BAC International Bank Inc.General licence · foreign | BAC | Colombia | 9,145 | 13.84% | +72.8%incl. Multibank | |
| 3 | Banistmo, S.A.General licence · foreign | Grupo BSC / Cuscatlán | Colombia | 7,194 | 10.89% | -2.3% | |
| 4 | Banco Nacional de PanamáState | State banks | Panamá | 7,130 | 10.79% | -5.9% | |
| 5 | Global Bank CorporationGeneral licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 5,892 | 8.92% | +4.0% | ||
| 6 | Caja de AhorrosState | State banks | Panamá | 4,454 | 6.74% | -7.7% | |
| 7 | Banco Davivienda (Panamá), S.A.General licence · foreign | Davivienda | Colombia | 3,077 | 4.66% | +255.2%incl. Scotiabank, sucursal Panamá | |
| 8 | Banesco (Panamá), S.A.General licence · foreign | Venezuela | 2,869 | 4.34% | +2.5% | ||
| 9 | Mercantil Banco, S. A.General licence · foreign | Venezuela | 2,394 | 3.62% | +15.7% | ||
| 10 | Banco Aliado, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 1,824 | 2.76% | -5.0% | ||
| 11 | Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A.General licence · foreign | Multinacional | 1,477 | 2.24% | +154.0% | ||
| 12 | Credicorp Bank, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 1,401 | 2.12% | +2.3% | ||
| 13 | Bi-Bank, S.A.General licence · foreign | Guatemala | 1,127 | 1.71% | +28.2% | ||
| 14 | Metrobank, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 817 | 1.24% | +5.6% | ||
| 15 | Banco La Hipotecaria, S. A.General licence · Panamanian | Grupo BSC / Cuscatlán | Panamá | 737 | 1.12% | +7.1% | |
| 16 | Banisi, S.A.General licence · foreign | Ecuador | 514 | 0.78% | +12.4% | ||
| 17 | St. Georges Bank & Company, Inc.General licence · foreign | Nicaragua | 456 | 0.69% | -2.1% | ||
| 18 | Bank of China LimitedGeneral licence · foreign | China | 437 | 0.66% | +127.3% | ||
| 19 | Unibank, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 437 | 0.66% | +7.4% | ||
| 20 | Towerbank International, Inc.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 401 | 0.61% | -0.8% | ||
| 21 | BCT Bank International, S.A.General licence · foreign | Costa Rica | 355 | 0.54% | +8.4% | ||
| 22 | Banco Lafise Panamá, S.A.General licence · foreign | Nicaragua | 339 | 0.51% | +18.6% | ||
| 23 | Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, S.A.General licence · foreign | Costa Rica | 334 | 0.51% | +41.6% | ||
| 24 | Canal Bank S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 324 | 0.49% | -11.6% | ||
| 25 | Banco Delta, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 200 | 0.30% | -4.3% | ||
| 26 | Bancolombia, S.A.General licence · foreign | Colombia | 164 | 0.25% | +12.0% | ||
| 27 | Banco Prival, S.A.General licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 162 | 0.25% | +2.8% | ||
| 28 | Citibank, N.A. Sucursal PanamáGeneral licence · foreign | E.U.A. | 132 | 0.20% | -10.0% | ||
| 29 | Banco Ficohsa (Panamá), S. A.General licence · foreign | Honduras | 122 | 0.18% | -52.0% | ||
| 30 | Pacific Bank, S.A.General licence · foreign | Honduras | 104 | 0.16% | +8.4% | ||
| 31 | MMG Bank CorporationGeneral licence · Panamanian | Panamá | 76 | 0.12% | -2.3% | ||
| 32 | Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Ltd.General licence · foreign | Taiwan | 61 | 0.09% | -42.5% | ||
| 33 | KEB Hana BankGeneral licence · foreign | Corea del Sur | 60 | 0.09% | -12.9% | ||
| 34 | Banco Pichincha Panamá, S. A.General licence · foreign | Ecuador | 56 | 0.08% | -21.6% | ||
| 35 | Banco Azteca (Panamá) S.A.General licence · foreign | México | 27 | 0.04% | +22.4% | ||
| 36 | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China LimitedGeneral licence · foreign | China | 18 | 0.03% | -76.1% | ||
| 37 | BBP BANK, S.A.General licence · foreign | Ecuador | 10 | 0.01% | +15.3% | ||
| 38 | Banco de Bogotá, S.A.General licence · foreign | Colombia | 1 | 0.00% | -8.3% | ||
| 39 | Atlas Bank (Panamá), S.A.In forced liquidation | E.U.A. | 0 | 0.00% | +0.0% |
Method
How every number is made.
- Loans are column préstamo local, each bank's total local loan book, in the SBP workbook Saldo de créditos al comercio local: 115 usable monthly sheets, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026.
Sistema Bancario Nacional: saldo de créditos al comercio local por banco, incl. préstamo local total (ene 2017–ago 2026) · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 0e795ed19722 - Units are detected sheet by sheet. Every header says thousands of balboas; the values are in balboas from Sep 2021 (and in Apr 2021, May 2021). A month-on-month jump above 15% in the system total stops the build, and 61 sheets reconcile to the SBP's own stated total within 0.1%.
- One sheet is left out: the SBP's Dec 2019 sheet pairs bank names with the wrong figures (it lists Global Bank with Banco General's loan book). The build detects a sheet where most large banks jump more than 40% against both neighbouring months, and drops it.
- Capital origin, licence and status come from the SBP's list of operating banks. It is the regulator's label: in August 2026 it still lists Banistmo's capital as Colombian, although Banco La Hipotecaria has owned it since 30 June.
Centro Bancario Internacional: bancos operativos, procedencia de capital, resoluciones (agosto 2026) · Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá · sha256 89c016f270a7 - Groups are the only layer we type in. Each event in a group cites the document it comes from.
- Not shown yet: deposits, capital and asset quality. They come next, from the same regulator.
- Safety net: the IMF's 2023 assessment asked Panamá to create deposit insurance and a lender of last resort.
IMF Executive Board concludes 2023 Financial System Stability Assessment with Panamá (Press Release 24/03) · International Monetary Fund · sha256 21cc623ce089