The Quiet Before the Turning; BAC Announces Intention to Acquire Multibank; President Mulino Enacts the 2026 General State Budget.

Friday, October 31, 2025. The Quiet Before the Turning Lately, I’ve been feeling like the world’s holding its breath. You can sense it, not just in the headlines, but in people. The tension, the uncertainty, that quiet just before something shifts. I’ve seen moments like this before, both in life and in my line of work. They’re thresholds or pauses between what was and what’s about to be. Some call it politics, others economics. But I suspect it’s something deeper, something that runs through all of us. You can almost feel the fabric of things stretching. Nations on edge, markets built on air, people drifting from one distraction to the next. The noise might seem random, but it’s not. It’s the sound of change knocking. But thresholds aren’t warnings, they’re invitations. They tell us it’s time to prepare, not to panic. To take inventory of what actually matters: family, integrity, discipline, faith, brotherhood. I don’t believe prophecy is about predicting dates or disasters.  It’s about recognizing patterns and learning from them before they repeat. When the world gets loud, the wise go quiet.  They listen and build their foundation while others debate whether the storm is real. That’s actually how this newsletter began. Back in early 2020, an expat friend here in Panama was completely oblivious to what was about to happen. The government was hours away from shutting down the entire country, and he was out in Chiriquí, laughing with a friend who’d just flown in from the States. He had no idea the borders were closing, the airports were shutting down, and that life as we knew it was about to change. It struck me then that most people don’t see the signs until they’re living inside them. So that’s what this space became: a place to pause, to think, to inform, to stay aware. A reminder that the signs are always there, if you’re paying attention. Every turning begins quietly and maybe that quiet is exactly where we should be listening. Brett Mikkelson Director, B.M. Investigations, Inc. – Private Investigations in Panama TOP NEWS and TIDBITS: BAC Announces Intention to Acquire Multibank, Both Belonging to the Grupo Aval Conglomerate When BAC Holding International Corp. (BHI) announced this week its intention to acquire 99.56% of the shares of Multi Financial Group Inc., the parent company of Multibank, the news sparked curiosity: how do you announce a purchase between two banks that already belong to the same financial group? Both BAC and Multibank are part of the Colombian financial conglomerate Grupo Aval, which acquired BAC Credomatic in 2010 and, ten years later, purchased Multibank through its subsidiary Leasing Bogotá S.A. Panama. Since then, both entities have operated independently, each with its own structure and corporate governance, though under the same Aval umbrella. The operation announced now aims to reorganize these pieces. If completed, Multibank will no longer be under the direct ownership of Banco de Bogotá — also part of Grupo Aval — and will be integrated into the structure of BAC International Corporation (BIC), a subsidiary of BHI, based in Panama. BAC is a company listed on the stock exchanges of Panama and Colombia and operates as an independent financial group in Central America, with a presence in six countries. With this integration, the consolidated entity would rank among the three largest banks in Panama, with over $43 billion in assets and a loan portfolio exceeding $30 billion. “BAC is at the best moment to carry out this transaction. In recent years, we have grown consistently and sustainably, which allows us to aspire to complete this acquisition,” explained Rodolfo Tabash Espinach, Chairman of BIC’s Board of Directors and CEO of BAC. Meanwhile, Ramón Chiari Brin, CEO of BAC Panama, highlighted that the decision reflects “the confidence that Panama generates as an engine of economic growth in the region.” During the transition, both banks will continue operating normally until approvals are obtained from shareholders, boards of directors, and regulatory authorities. The story behind the reorganization The operation has its origin in a decision made three years ago. In 2022, Grupo Aval and Banco de Bogotá completed a corporate reorganization that separated the operations of the BAC Credomatic Group — responsible for banking in Central America — from Banco de Bogotá’s operations in Colombia. With this spin-off, BAC became a completely independent company under the name BAC Holding International Corp. (BHI), headquartered in Panama. According to the company’s statement to SNIP Noticias, the goal was to simplify the group’s structure and provide greater transparency and value to shareholders. BAC had grown so much in the region that it represented a significant portion of Banco de Bogotá, which made management and business evaluation more complex. Separating the operations allowed Banco de Bogotá to focus on its local market, while BAC leads its expansion in Central America with autonomy. Investors, in turn, can value each business individually. Before the separation, BAC was indirectly controlled by Banco de Bogotá through its subsidiary Leasing Bogotá S.A. Panama. With the spin-off, BHI became a fully independent entity, focused exclusively on regional banking and financial services in Central America, while Banco de Bogotá and Grupo Aval maintained their focus on Colombia. Today, the integration of Multibank into BAC represents the next step in that reorganization process. BAC is now a separate company, with its own structure and shareholders, capable of growing in the region independently, while Banco de Bogotá and Aval concentrate their efforts on the Colombian market. READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE They Create Program to Track Containers Entering and Leaving the Country The Cabinet Council approved this Tuesday the Decree “Establishing the Interinstitutional Coordination and Intergovernmental Assistance Program for Cargo Verification in the Territory of the Republic of Panama and Issuing Other Provisions.” Under this new regulation, all containerized cargo entering, transiting, transshipping, or leaving the national territory may be inspected using non-intrusive technology. This includes empty containers, when so determined, either selectively or randomly, applying selectivity criteria in accordance with international best practices