The National Authority of Public Services (ASEP) of Panama is advancing in an administrative sanctioning process against the electricity distribution company ENSA, for alleged violations of Law 6 of 1997 and the regulations that govern the electricity market in Panama. The case, which originates from contractual operations carried out since 2014, now enters a key phase: while the regulator maintains the charges, the company has presented a set of evidence with which it seeks to disprove the accusations and stop any eventual sanction. According to the file, ASEP questions ENSA's actions related to an energy supply contract with the company CEISA, as well as the management of a accounts receivable assignment and rights derived from the sale of energy to third parties. These operations included formal agreements in which Banistmo also participated, and which were duly notified to the regulator, although with observations on compliance with sector regulations. Despite this, ASEP considers that there are sufficient elements to sustain that ENSA incurred possible regulatory breaches, which gave rise to the formulation of charges. In this scenario, ENSA has presented its defense accompanied by documentation and arguments that seek to dismantle the basis of the sanctioning process. Among the main elements submitted are: Challenge to the timing of the process: The company alleges that ASEP would have exceeded the legal deadlines to investigate, which could invalidate the proceedings; Lack of valid notification: ENSA maintains that the assignment made by CEISA was not communicated to it in a timely manner, affecting the execution of payments; Judicial support: The distributor ensures that there was a court order that obliged to retain more than 9.6 million dollars, which supports its action; Regulatory conditions: It also argues that it conditioned the recognition of the assignment on the authorization of ASEP and the presentation of formal guarantees, requirements that, according to its version, were not fully met.
