Committed to the development of the National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE), which allows raising people’s culture in this matter, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) is firmly stepping into that direction. As a key part of this goal, the entity entered into a cooperation agreement with the University of Cantabria Foundation for Studies and Research in the Financial Sector (Universidad de Cantabria para el Estudio y la Investigación del Sector Financiero, UCEIF) that will be developed through one of its centers, Santander Financial Institute (SANFI).
The agreement, signed by the Superintendent of Banks, Amauri A. Castillo, and the Director-General of UCEIF and SANFI, Francisco Javier Martínez García, will be valid for three years, extendable, and it contains the interest of promoting, disseminating and developing financial education in Panama. The agreement also allows the performance of several cooperation activities addressed to both the SBP staff and the Panamanian people, which will contribute to improve the household, social, and economic environment.
“Once again, the Superintendency of Banks consolidates its social responsibility role in carrying out the initiative to implement the National Strategy for Financial Education in Panama and offer the population the necessary tools to manage their finances in a healthy way,” said Superintendent Amauri A. Castillo.
Both institutions pledged to provide support in the design and development of training projects, with special emphasis on financial education programs, and to strengthen the information posted on the “Tu Balboa con Sentido” website.
The University of Cantabria Foundation for Studies and Research in the Financial Sector (UCEIF) was established in 2006 with the aim of becoming a benchmark in producing, transmitting, and disseminating financial knowledge and entrepreneurship. Its mission is to promote study, education, research and transfer in the financial and business areas with the aim of contributing to well-being, sustainable development, and progress of society while supporting, at the same time, the talent and scientific skills of people.
According to this agreement, the UCEIF will aid in designing and implementing the National Strategy for Financial Education in Panama, a project the SBP promotes since 2018 to educate people on the correct management of personal finances. It will also support the communication and dissemination plans necessary to achieve this goal.
Francisco Javier Martínez García, Director-General of UCEIF and SANFI, valued this cooperation agreement in the development of strategies and joint actions in financial education matters. “This agreement with the Superintendency represents for us a great the challenge of collaborating in the National Strategy for Financial Education in Panama, contributing our Know-how in this area. The alliance of the Superintendency of Banks with Sparkassenstiftung Alemana Latinoamérica y el Caribe, with goals similar to ours in terms of favoring the progress of society and the improvement of people, seemed to us a great challenge and we will work together to promote and foster financial inclusion in the Panamanian population.
As one of the first actions to achieve this national strategy, the SBP also signed, three years ago, an agreement with Sparkassenstiftung Alemana Latinoamérica y el Caribe.
Different public and private entities have entered this initiative, joining efforts to implement this project that seeks to promote responsible management of economic resources in the Panamanian population, in a way that allows them to improve their quality of life and their environment and, at the same time, that people act as multiplying agents and thus generate social and economic development in the country.
