Panama — Politically Exposed Persons (PEP / Ley 23 de 2015 & SBP 10-2015)

Screen Panamanian citizens by Cédula (documentNumber or cedula) or Full Legal Name (fullName) against consolidated official registries of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) for anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) compliance under:

• Ley N° 23 de 2015 (Que adopta medidas para prevenir el blanqueo de capitales, el financiamiento del terrorismo y el financiamiento de la proliferación de armas de destrucción masiva)
• Acuerdo SBP N° 10-2015 (Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá - Prevención de Blanqueo de Capitales)
• Mandatory 2-year post-mandate lookback window (período de carencia following cessation of public duties).

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API Reference

Endpoint

GET https://api.verifik.co/v2/pa/politically-exposed-persons

Headers

Name	Value
Accept	application/json
Authorization	Bearer <token>

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
cedula	string	Conditional	Panamanian Cédula (e.g. 8-204-1062 or 8-0204-01062). Required if fullName is omitted.
documentNumber	string	Conditional	Alias for cedula.
documentType	string	No	Document type: CEDULA (default) or CCPA.
fullName	string	Conditional	Full legal name of the individual to screen. Required if cédula is omitted.
includeFormer	boolean	No	Include former PEPs (ex-PEP) within the 2-year post-mandate statutory window. Defaults to true.
force	boolean	No	Bypass recent lookup cache and force fresh screening.

---

Request

Node.js / JavaScript

import axios from "axios";

const options = {
  method: "GET",
  url: "https://api.verifik.co/v2/pa/politically-exposed-persons",
  params: {
    documentNumber: "8-204-1062",
    includeFormer: true
  },
  headers: {
    Accept: "application/json",
    Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"
  }
};

const response = await axios.request(options);
console.log(response.data);

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.verifik.co/v2/pa/politically-exposed-persons"
params = {
    "documentNumber": "8-204-1062",
    "includeFormer": "true"
}
headers = {
    "Accept": "application/json",
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=params, headers=headers)
print(response.json())

Response

200 (PEP Match)

{
  "data": {
    "documentType": "CEDULA",
    "documentNumber": "8-204-1062",
    "fullName": "LAURENTINO CORTIZO COHEN",
    "isPep": true,
    "isActivePep": true,
    "isFormerPep": false,
    "totalMatches": 1,
    "categories": [
      "PODER EJECUTIVO - ALTO MANDO / PRESIDENCIA"
    ],
    "matches": [
      {
        "fullName": "LAURENTINO CORTIZO COHEN",
        "documentNumber": "8-204-1062",
        "entity": "PRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA DE PANAMÁ",
        "position": "PRESIDENTE DE LA REPÚBLICA",
        "category": "PODER EJECUTIVO - ALTO MANDO / PRESIDENCIA",
        "isActive": true,
        "isFormer": false,
        "source": "Gobierno de Panamá / Presidencia de la República"
      }
    ],
    "regulation": {
      "framework": "Ley N° 23 de 2015 / Acuerdo SBP N° 10-2015",
      "lookbackYears": 2,
      "authority": "Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá (SBP) / Intendencia de Supervisión"
    },
    "valid": true
  },
  "signature": {
    "dateTime": "November 4, 2026 8:00 PM",
    "message": "Certified by Verifik.co"
  }
}

200 (Clean / Non-PEP)

{
  "data": {
    "documentType": "CEDULA",
    "documentNumber": "8-712-901",
    "fullName": "MARIA DEL CARMEN RIOS",
    "isPep": false,
    "isActivePep": false,
    "isFormerPep": false,
    "totalMatches": 0,
    "categories": [],
    "matches": [],
    "regulation": {
      "framework": "Ley N° 23 de 2015 / Acuerdo SBP N° 10-2015",
      "lookbackYears": 2,
      "authority": "Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá (SBP) / Intendencia de Supervisión"
    },
    "valid": true
  },
  "signature": {
    "dateTime": "November 4, 2026 8:00 PM",
    "message": "Certified by Verifik.co"
  }
}

409 (Missing Parameter)

{
  "code": "MissingParameter",
  "message": "missing cedula (documentNumber) or fullName."
}

---

Notes

• Mandatory compliance tool for financial entities, lawyers, accountants, real estate developers, and designated non-financial businesses (APNFD) regulated under Panamanian AML laws.
• When includeFormer=true, individuals who stepped down within the last 2 years are returned with isFormerPep: true and isPep: true.
• In sandbox mode, test cédulas include 8-204-1062 (Executive Official), 8-161-172 (National Assembly Deputy), and 8-712-901 (Clean / Non-PEP).