Banking in Panama

I should have known better than to mention, in my last blog, that we had lived for a short while free of the Panamanian bureaucracy and were enjoying a tranquil existence as a result. Vengeance began last week with an enigmatic e-mail, in Spanish, from a functionary in the David branch of our bank asking me to report to the Boquete branch to complete some unfinished paperwork relating to our home mortgage. But let me go back a bit.

Our original construction loan, taken out before we left the States, was with Banistmo, which since has been bought out by HSBC. There was some mix-up in the filing of the final paperwork--maybe Banistmo's fault, maybe our lawyer's--who knows?--the correction of which would have resulted in our losing our 20-year tax exemption. So, after a year of trying to work things out, the only alternative appeared to be to refinance with another bank. The decision was made at Fatima's office in David, so, after a telephone call, she sent me to the Global Bank branch in David. This was early October 2008. I filled out some paperwork and was approved on the spot. Nine months later, i.e., in June 2009, the final papers were signed. Everything was shuffled back and forth between Global in David, Global in Panama City, Banistmo in Boquete, and Banistmo in Panama City, and then all over again when Banistmo was merged with HSBC. It was excruciating. Delays, lost paperwork, dozens of trips back and forth to David, hundreds of e-mails, hundreds of phone calls. I could write a book on what we went through. The closing itself, in June, with the aid of a translator/interpreter (who was the only competent person encountered in the long, sorry ordeal) took three hours and approximately five pounds of paperwork. But at last it was done. So I thought.

After a brief respite I undertook the chores of adding Larry to the Global account (since he wasn't with me when I opened it in David) and adding Derek in the event that anything happened to us as one never, ever wants to go through probate in Panama. (Everyone forms a corporation to purchase property because there is no tenancy by the entireties in Panama law, so all owners and heirs are written into the corporation documents to avoid probate.) When I approached the Boquete branch about adding Derek to the account, they said it would have to be done in David because that's where the account was. Exactly same bank, mind you, just a different branch. Not wanting to have to journey to David for every little banking matter, I asked if the account could be transferred to Boquete. At first I was told yes, then, during a subsequent visit, no. But we could open a new account in Boquete and close the one in David. Alrighty then, as Doc says, let's do it. Not unexpectedly, there were foul-ups in executing what should be a simple matter, and a number of weeks passed before this was accomplished. When I showed up to add Derek to the account, I was told that it would be easier to simply make him the beneficiary, so I signed a document to that effect. Then Larry was added in mid-July, after three trips by the two us to submit paperwork that they hadn't told us about on the previous trip(s). That's the history, in a nutshell.

So, in response to last week's e-mail about mortgage-related paperwork, I dutifully (there's that word again) reported to Ana at Global Bank in Boquete to see what it was all about. I first was told that there were three forms that had been completed but had not been signed by me--just an oversight. The three forms--a mortgage application, a personal profile, and a designation of beneficiary--were offered in blank form for my signature. I advised that I was confident I had signed all forms proffered and, furthermore, was not in the habit of signing blank forms. This provoked a telephone call to the e-mail originator in David, from whom it was learned that the three forms in question were, in fact, wholly missing from the file. I suggested that, given all the shuffling between David and Panama City, the missing forms probably resided at Global in the capital city. We couldn't connect with the appropriate person there, so I left it with Ana to try to run them down. After all, the mortgage was a done deal; Banistmo/HSBC had been paid off and my property tax exemption saved.

After I got home, however, I started worrying about the beneficiary form and, given the months of agony suffered at the hands of Panama banks, became sorely aggravated. I therefore e-mailed Carmen at the bank, an official in the Boquete branch with a private office, with whom I had met before on some other issue and whom I judged to be somewhat competent, and expressed my misgivings about the whole affair. She wrote back the next day:

"I do need you to please stop over at the Boquete Branch if possible today and if you could bring your passport and if your husband could come in with you I would really appreciated.
I cant find the forms or the copies of the passports and I do apologize for it. If you could please stop over and see me at my office so we can make copies and sign the required paperwork to add your husband into the accounts."

Now, in case you missed it, this is an issue separate and distinct from missing mortgage documents. It became apparent to me that, in the bank's search for the mortgage records, they had discovered that other records were missing, too. I flew down to the bank and marched into the office of the Manager, an imposing looking woman named Sra. Casta Castillo. After a very perfunctory "Buena dia," I thrust a copy of the e-mail exchanges at her and started in on having received no answer to the problem of the mortgage paperwork but having learned in the process that other paperwork was missing as well. I was deep into my spiel before realizing that she doesn't speak English. Flustered, she finally managed to get Ana and Carmen into her office and, after protracted discussion with them and a number of telephone calls to Global elsewhere, advised me, via Carmen, that Boquete had lost the paperwork on Larry and had lost the Derek-as-beneficiary form. The problem with the mortgage documents, on the other hand, related to the loan being personal while the property is owned by our corporation; no records were missing, but several needed to be altered to accurately reflect that. The beneficiary form needed by the mortgage department was one linking us personally to the corporation in terms of the mortgage. So we got it worked out, requiring two more trips and Larry's presence again, but not without my reminding them repeatedly that one issue came to light only because another had arisen and that their incompetency had threatened my son's eventually having access to our money.

So I've now dealt with three Panama banks, each one as bad as the others. And I've learned at least two things: never underestimate the fecklessness of Panama bank employees, and never put more money than you absolutely have to in a Panama bank. This is the Switzerland of America?????

During all this paper shuffling, I realized that our U.S. passports expire in January. They can be renewed only at the U.S. embassy in Panama City, which, with travel, will require two days, which, because of my impending Spanish classes, will have to be done right away. So we're off Monday the 21st to Panama City for another round of bureaucracy.

Just shoot on up here amongst us . . . .

August in the Valley of the Flowers

We've had a much better August this year than last. So far the rainy season has been as advertised: mostly late afternoon and/or evening showers, beautiful days. No major headaches this month, which means we have steered clear of bureaucracy, by and large. And I've found a new haircutter, Renny, a member of the garden club who has a small and select clientele she administers to in her home. I discovered that she possesses this talent only last Sunday, when she and her husband, Austin, visited us for a few hours, but I'm convinced that I'm going to be looking better. She owned a salon back in Houston, where Austin was a superintendent at the Houston Port Authority. Because she has spoken Spanish for 28 years and also has a degree in Education, the government of Panama has hired her to teach English at the university in David several days a week, and she and Austin both are fine gardeners and great cooks They're keeping busy in retirement, and I'm glad she agreed to work me into her schedule.

On the subject of personal appearance, I continue to have to buy new clothes, as I'm now down to a size 6. I'm healthy, though, so I suppose it's because of better food and eating habits.

And on the subject of language instruction, I'm going back to school later this month. Habla Ya, the local Spanish language school, is offering a 2 for 1 deal for residents of Boquete through December, so Ramon and I have paired up to take advantage of the deal. We begin on September 28, when Doc and Charly return from a trip to NYC to visit their daughters (Ramon is in charge of the fur-faced fiends while they're gone), and will be attending class three days a week, two hours a day, for two months for $250 each. My Spanish is better than pretty good, but I'd really like to become almost fluent.

We're finally getting out of house more as most of the major work is done around here. Larry plays golf twice a week, once with Doc and Charly at Valle Escondido, and once at Cielo Paraiso, the very fancy development south of town. Because we're friends with the developers, Raideep and Colleen Lal, they waived the $25,000 initiation fee (!) and give him a reduced rate of $60 for play on their PGA certified course. He's in a foursome with Raideep, the golf pro Liz, and the chef-to-be (when they get the hotel and restaurant up and running) George, a Greek who owns two restaurants back in their hometown of Toronto. He (Larry) has bought all new golf togs so he'll fit in and has worn out the grass in the backyard practicing. His handicap is improving and he's happy as a you-know-what.

We had dinner at George's house last Friday night, and what a treat! In addition to fabulous appetizers, he served a standing rib roast, the first exceptional beef we've had since coming here. The owner of Super Baru, the finest grocery store in David, is owned by Spiro, also (as you might have guessed) Greek, whom George befriended so as to have access to comestibles (food) not generally available. We hope to benefit, too, by the association. We were joined at the dinner party by Raideep and Colleen, Colleen's uncle "Tio," and the foremost orthopedic surgeon in Panama, Yacko Barrios, and his wife. It was a lively evening as George, Raideep, and Yacko are characters of the first order. I worried a bit about the amount of alcohol consumed by Yacko as he was scheduled to operate on my friend Jane's knee early Monday morning, but both Raideep and George testified to his competence by demonstrating a shoulder and a foot, respectively, set aright recently by Yacko's skills.

The following morning I traveled to Potrerillos to visit Bill Streit and Donna O'Toole, who bought and have restored the house and gardens of Noriega's so-called "summer palace." I received the full tour, including the former helicopter landing pad, guard towers, outdoor party area complete with kitchen and dance floor, and a beneath-the-staircase locked compartment within which was a safe within a safe. They've managed to get through the locked door and the first safe, but have been stymied by the second safe. They confided that they've given up the effort for the time being for fear of what they might find. They've had plenty of other things to do like modernizing the house and rebuilding the large garden area, which is lovely. I forgot to take my camera, but they're hosting the garden club next month so I may get some pictures yet.

On Wednesday I took friends Sandy and Gaby to Volcan and Cerro Punta, primarily to point out the location of the many nurseries over there. It was my second trip in two weeks, as Jane, Steve, and I went to a special heliconia sale at the home of Carla Black, a legendary heliconia grower, a couple of Saturdays back. I came away with some fine specimens.

Juanita Bonita now is fully integrated into the family. She's determined to be the queen of the house and, at less than two pounds, terrorizes the dogs. When she's not playing with her own tail, she's leaping out from behind furniture to attack a wagging dog tail. I bought her some cat toys which we keep in a bowl on a console behind the sofa. When she takes a notion to play with them rather than tails, she jumps on the table and methodically throws each one on the floor. She then zips all over the house, batting and biting them. Her quickness fascinates and confuses Chyna and Trudy. We've all finally become accustomed to catching, out of the corners of our eyes, a flash of white now and then. We give the dogs raw bones every afternoon. She refuses to be ignored or to be placated with something lesser, so she now receives a bone, too, which she guards with her life. She's a joy, but we throw her out into her own cushy bed when we go to bed because she habitually wakes up at odd hours and makes all sorts of mischief.

We've gotten two huge bunches of bananas off our trees, and the strawberry guavas produce at a rate that neither we nor the birds can keep up with. My lemon trees have yet to produce, however, although the herb garden is thriving. Everything else is flowers, flowers, flowers. The photo attached is of an orchid called the Espiritu Santo, the Holy Ghost Orchid, Panama's national flower.