Given the headline-grabbing corruption scandals affecting Latin America; the aggressive enforcement of anti-corruption laws by authorities; and, the global jurisdictional reach of many anti-corruption laws, it may seem obvious that anti-bribery/anti-corruption (ABAC) due diligence is a necessity in Latin America. Despite this, many companies seem to treat ABAC due diligence as an afterthought. Conducting a proper anti-corruption due diligence investigation in Latin America is

On 2 September 2016, Panama implemented the Adversarial Criminal System (Sistema Penal Acusatorio, or SPA)--a new system of oral criminal proceedings--in all the criminal courts in the country (it was implemented in a phased approach and previously covered only certain courts in the country). With the full implementation of the SPA, Panama joins a number of other countries in the region who have moved away from the inquisitorial system approach of written criminal proceedings