What are the advantages of Panamanian Private Foundations (PIF)?

Panamanian Private Interest Foundations (PIF) are perfect for asset protection, used by clients that need to transfer their assets to a third juridical person (In this case the foundation) in order to protect their assets from lawsuits, garnishments, divorces, tax reduction or just to transfer their assets to their family in an effective, fast and secure way.

The Panamanian Private Foundations offers 100% confidentiality since the beneficiary will not be disclosed in any public document, only on the regulations of the foundation, which is a private document.

Private Interest Foundation (PIF) as a holder of shares or as a shareholder of companies

A Private Interest Foundation (PIF) can appear as a shareholder of Panamanian companies or other foreign companies from any country in the world.

This is an excellent way to give double protection and added anonymity to the shareholders of a company. In this case, this company will issue shares in the name of the foundation thus issuing a regulation in a private document, in which the beneficiary will be the real holder of the company’s shares. Therefore the beneficiary will have control of both figures (company and foundation), maintaining confidentiality and anonymity.

Owner of Assets

Although Private Interest Foundations (PIF) cannot practice any commercial activities, they can be owners of assets in any country in the world, such as company shares and real estate.

All the foundation’s assets located abroad will have special protection because they are considered separate assets from the shareholders’ proprietorship in Panama.

Holding Foundations

A Private Interest Foundation (PIF) can be used as a holding of other Panamanian companies or other foreign companies from any country in the world as well as from other different juridical figures.

Holding foundations are very useful to organize business assets. They offer management, financial, and tax advantages since the beneficiaries or dividends are distributed directly to the holding, achieving a tax reduction for the shareholders.

In this case, different capitals can be transferred to the foundation, such as bank interests, shares, stocks, bonds, securities, and more. All these activities will be issued in name of the holding Foundation.

Management, Protection, and Transfer of Family Related Assets and General Assets.

• Management: The foundation can be incorporated for sustaining the needs of a family, throughout the founder’s lifetime, establishing limiting factors and rights for some members of the family.
• Protection: The foundation’s assets are considered as separate assets from the founder of the Foundation and they cannot be garnished or seized for his own personal responsibilities and/or duties.
• Asset transfers: The foundation can replace the testament’s figure if it’s incorporated for assets transferred from the founder to his relatives or a third party that does not necessarily have to be his/her forced heirs.
• Tax Strategies: When a client transfers assets to a Private Interest Foundation (PIF), different tax advantages are created and he is totally exempt from taxation, as long as the assets are in the name of the Foundation, are not in Panama, and finally, the money and titles come from a foreign source.
• Charity Purposes and General Interest: The founder can establish a Private Interest Foundation (PIF) for the purpose of transferring assets. He can transfer assets to this foundation and the foundation council will be in charge of their management. The founder can decide to transfer all his assets to a charity organization anywhere in the world. (This applies in the case of the founder’s death as well.)