Dr Issamary Sánchez Ortega is an international lawyer who holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Panama, becoming the first woman to obtain this degree from the institution’s Faculty of Law and Political Science. She also holds a Master’s degree in Industrial and Intellectual Property and Information Technology from the University of Alicante, and has undertaken further studies in Anti-Corruption Public Policy at Georgetown University and a course in Geopolitics at Sorbonne University, among other academic qualifications.
Her professional career spans legal practice, banking, regulatory compliance and public administration. She has served as Legal Adviser at the Superintendency of Banks of Panama, as a Legal and Compliance Officer within banking and financial institutions, as Director of Panama’s Financial Analysis Unit (UAF), and as an Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic of Panama.
In the diplomatic sphere, she served as Panama’s Ambassador to France, Liechtenstein and Monaco, as well as Consul General in Marseille (2020–2024). During this period, she became the first Panamanian to co-chair both the OECD Development Centre and the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). She also served as President of the Network of Latin American Women Diplomats in France and was a member of the Panamanian delegation responsible for the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
She specialises in anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), corporate governance and regulatory policy. She holds FIBA’s AML Professional Certification and has been formally deemed eligible by Panama’s Ministry of Government to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
A university lecturer, international speaker and author, Dr Sánchez Ortega has published Enriquecimiento sin causa, alcances y perspectivas and Artículos y Ensayos Jurídicos. She has received the French Senate Medal, the “José Dolores Moscote” Medal from the Panama National Bar Association, as well as distinctions from FuturED Institute UK, Copades and Me Connect Monaco, among others.
