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1,151 JOBS OF FELIX B. MADURO ARE SAFEGUARDED
The U.S. Treasury Department issued license to the company.
The Treasury Department of the United States, in an unprecedented action and
after signing the trust agreed by the parties, yesterday issued a general license for
the Group Felix Maduro, integrated by companies Félix B. Maduro, S.A.,
Importadora Maduro, S.A. and Maduro Internacional, S.A.
This general license, achieved thanks to the facilitation of the Government of
Panama after a month and a half of negotiations, exhaustive technical
assessments and bilateral cooperation, enables companies linked to Felix B.
Maduro continue operating regularly and protect the 1,151 jobs that depend on the
group, while it reaches a definitive solution to its current situation.
The ownership of these companies has been transferred to a trust and the main
beneficiaries of the trust shall be, in descending order, the following: 1) employees,
2) secured creditors, 3) unsecured creditors and 4) providers.
The issuance of this license constitutes a significant achievement for Panama and
is an extraordinary action on the part of the United States, whose common practice
is limited to the designation and implementation of these sanctions to entities
and/or individuals without taking additional rescue actions.
The 1,151 jobs linked to the three companies that are part of the Group Felix B.
Maduro, have been saved successfully through the trust, a structured mechanism
specifically for this case and that never before had been implemented by the U.S.
government.
On May 5th, 2016, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department
of the Treasury of the United States nominated to Abdul Mohamed Waked Fares,
Mohamed Abdo Waked Darwich and Grupo Wisa, S.A. as a business organization
linked to money laundering and Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers
(SDNT), in accordance with the Kingpin Act.
OFAC also added other 5 individuals and 67 related companies to the "List
Clinton", including Felix B. Maduro S.A., Importadora Maduro, S.A. and Maduro
Internacional, S.A., members of the Group Felix B. Maduro, which were sanctioned
by its linkage to the business conglomerate Waked.
That same day, President Juan Carlos Varela stated as a priority to safeguard the
jobs of those Panamanians who might be affected as a result of the case Waked.