The board of directors of GB Group Corporation (Global Bank's full owner) decided to buy the shares of Ricardo Martinelli, his family, and their companies for not meeting the criteria of "moral solvency"

PANAMA - In Brief 18 Apr 2023 by Marco Fernandez

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Summary of facts and implications of Martinelli´s exit as shareholder of Global Bank, S.A. On March 28, 2023, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) issued the Agreement 002-2023 which established that banking entities “must guarantee that shareholders and senior management maintain an excellent reputation as well as moral and economic solvency”. On April 4, GB Group Corporation called a shareholders' meeting at which it approved an amendment to its by-laws where over 80% of shareholders decided to redeem the shares of those who did not comply with that clause. As a result of this vote, the shares owned by Ricardo Martinelli's (RM) family were cancelled and paid. Because the beneficiaries of the payments did not withdraw the checks, the Bank deposited them in a court, as established by law. Both his wife and his children appear in the legal composition of the company or had the shares under their name, but no shareholder or group has more than 12% of the bank´s capital. Global Bank S.A. is Panama´s third largest private bank with a local loan portfolio of US$5.9 billion and assets of US$8.5 billion. In late January 2023, US Secretary of State Blinken “designated” Martinelli as corrupt for accepting bribes and improperly delivering public contracts, leading to the cancellation of the U.S. visa for him and his immediate family members. Apart from the pending trials in which Martinelli must appear in Panama - the Odebrecht bribery case and the purchase of a newspaper conglomerate with public funds (known as the New Business trial), Martinelli's eldest sons were imprisoned in the US after confessing to participating in money laundering in Odebrecht bribes on orders o...