Panama bankers concerned over tax dodging

Panama's bankers are urging the nation's legislators to back a bill that would make tax dodging a crime, said Carlos Berguido, head of the bankers' association.

Official figures show that 40 percent of people in Panama dodge taxes. Under the current legislation, their actions are not criminal.

The IMF and the GAFI have been pressing to make tax evasion a crime. Unless Panama does so, they say, it will be included once more in the "grey list" of countries that fail to observe international financial standards.