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paRaGuay
encouraGinG eFFortS, deSpite corruption
the transparency internationaL organization ranking pLaces paraguay as the second most corrupt country in south america, onLy behind venezueLa and ahead of boLivia. at the continent LeveL, the sixth most corrupt. hoWever, LegaL efforts are made to improve this serious situation.
Transparency International’s Global Corruption Index places Paraguay in 140th place among 196 countries, and in ninth place among the 12 South American nations. The Global Organized Crime Index, 2023, from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime reveals that Paraguay is the fourth country in the world, of 193 nations analyzed, with the highest organized crime.
There are, however, encouraging signs from the Paraguayan government and legislators of anti- corruption efforts.
In compliance with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (Fatf) standard on legal entities, the country has carried out a series of actions that included legal reforms such as the creation of administrative registries of legal persons and structures and that of final beneficiaries. at the country level in 2019, whose implementation stages were executed during the first half of 2020. Likewise, the latest modification of the AML/CFT Law No 1.015/97 has incorporated the duty to identify the final beneficiary and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of the same (Art. 15, Law
No 6497/19) and that the obligated subjects must ensure transparency regarding the final beneficiaries of the legal persons and structures, implementing reasonable mechanisms that allow them to identify and keep updated their corresponding records.
The Secretariat for the Prevention of Money or Asset Laundering (Seprelad) has defined concepts and determined obligations for compeled subjects with respect to the final beneficiary since 2011, with the issuance of Seprelad Resolution No 436.
current context
According to the National Constitution, the Paraguayan Civil Code and other present norms that regulate the matter, 24 types of legal entities that operate in the country have been identified, some for profit (commercial, industrial and services) and others for other issues.
applied classification
Considering the various types of legal entities existing in the country, the technical team of the Sectoral Studies area of the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money or Assets Laundering (Seprelad), has classified
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