The Banking, Finance and Capital Markets team at Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee recently acted as counsel to the lender banks, which included Banco General, Banistmo, Banco Panama, BAC Credomatic, and Banesco, in relation to the Felix B. Maduro Trust, for USD$108 million, wherein the banks, as lenders to the settlors, were beneficiaries.
The Waked Group is an important commercial group in Panama which, among others, owns Felix B. Maduro, the largest and oldest department store in the country. The trust was set up as part of a structure meant to take away control of Felix B. Maduro from the Waked Group, due to their recent inclusion in the list of Specially Designated Nationals published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury Department. As a result of such inclusion, a group of more than 50 companies, all under the administration of the Waked Group, were included in such list and had their assets blocked, thereby prohibiting all U.S. citizens from dealing with them. In a joint effort between the Government of Panama, the Waked Group and the banking creditors of Felix B. Maduro, a blind trust was created to safeguard the continued operation of Felix B. Maduro by stripping away the company’s control from the Waked Group. As a result of the creation of the blind trust, the OFAC granted a temporary license to Felix B. Maduro, which is expected to enable the preservation of a large number of jobs in Panama, thereby avoiding adverse local economic consequences. The transaction closed in June.
Partner Eloy Alfaro, along with associates Patricia Cordero and Eduardo Gomez, were in charge of this transaction.
