Capitalizing on the experience of other Latin American countries, Panama has evolved as a jurisdiction which enables the constitution of Trusts for commercial purposes.

The most common commercial trusts are:

Guarantee Trusts: set up with the purpose of guaranteeing different types of obligations, from the purchase of an operating company, to the issuance of securities, the acquisition of real estate, or even the financing of automobiles. Guarantee Trusts are the most common trusts constituted in Panama.

The law also allows the creation of Purpose Trusts which, as in English law, are trusts established for the fulfilment of a specific purpose, rather than for the benefit of a person.

Investment Trusts: Investment Trusts can be created in order to channel funds transferred by different investors, to be invested in one or a number of projects or assets. Real Estate Investment Funds or Real Estate Investment Trusts are examples of this type of Trusts.

Administration Trusts: These are used whenever the settlor wishes to segregate a number of assets in order to transfer it to a trustee with the mandate to manage them in order to achieve a certain purpose.