Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega has acted as legal counsel to Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as Mandated Lead Arranger, Structuring Agent and Bookrunner and its subsidiary Banconal COVID Relief Facility S.à r.l., as Lender, in connection with a US$360 million term loan facility to state-owned bank Banco Nacional de Panamá (Banconal).

ARIFA has also acted as legal counsel to Société Générale as Lender in a US$150 million term loan facility to Banco Nacional de Panamá.

These loans are guaranteed by Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and are being used to support the creation of a trust fund, administered by Banconal, which plays an important role to maintain the liquidity of the banking sector and is a key measure to support the Panamanian economy overcome the effects of the pandemic. Banconal will also use the financing to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have seen their businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic. 

Banconal is one of Panama’s two state-run banks. It shares some of the responsibilities of a central bank with the other state-owned finance group, Caja de Ahorros de Panamá, as Panama does not have a central banking system.