France calls on Panama for tax transparency

PARIS (AP) — France's finance minister has called on Panama to provide "total transparency" regarding exchange of tax information.

"Transparency must concern previous and future requests, including those linked to the Panama Papers information", Michel Sapin said in a written statement following a meeting with his Panamanian counterpart, Dulcidio de la Guardia, Monday in Paris.

De la Guardia expressed his government's will to make progress on the issue, according to Sapin's statement.

France this month placed Panama on a list of countries that are uncooperative in sharing financial information. The move came in the wake of the so-called Panama Papers revelations, a leak of millions of documents detailing the offshore accounts of people and companies.

The measure, to be applied on Jan. 1, 2017, aims at discouraging financial flows between the two countries.