2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART IV - Transfer Of Funds (§§ 1401 — 1407) › Chapter 91 - Transfer of Funds Abroad (§§ 1401 — 1407) › § 1403 - Scope; records; reports; publicity; exemptions

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any financial institution or agency that makes or receives any payment, directly or indirectly through the transfer of funds, on its own or on behalf of another person, with a financial institution organized or operating under the laws of a foreign country in an amount that exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000) or any larger amount as the Secretary may prescribe by regulations, shall be required to keep a paper or digital record and/or to file reports electronically, at the discretion of the Secretary, of said transfers of funds that meet the design and content specifications for records and transmission media that the Secretary may prescribe through regulations from time to time.
If a financial institution has any doubt in relation to the information it is required to keep or report, as the case may be, said institution shall indicate so in writing to the Secretary explaining the situation in detail.
(b) The records retained by virtue of the preceding subsection (a) of this section shall be kept for a period of six (6) years and during which shall be available to the Secretary.
(c) When prescribing regulations for the enforcement of this section, the Secretary shall ensure that said regulations do not become unreasonably onerous for the financial institutions and persons concerned.
(d) The Secretary is hereby empowered to prescribe by regulations any exceptions to the requirement imposed on financial institutions pursuant to the preceding subsection (a) of this section.
(e) When deemed best for public interest, the Secretary shall request, through an order, information to a financial institution regarding one or more transfers of funds subject to the recordkeeping requirement imposed by the Secretary, pursuant to the preceding subsection (a) of this section.
(f) The Secretary may, for purposes consistent with this chapter and under such conditions and procedures as he/she may prescribe, place at the disposal of any other agency or department of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico any information required to be retained or to appear in the reports filed pursuant to this chapter, at the request of the head of such agency or department, and also, publish the statistics reasonably available with respect to the application of this chapter.
Except as provided by this subsection, it shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to disclose any information obtained according to or from any report required by this chapter or to allow that a copy or summary thereof be viewed or examined. Any proven violation of the preceding provision shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in a penal institution for not more than six (6) months, and entail the removal from office or employment.
History —July 23, 1974, No. 131, Part 1, p. 590, § 3, eff. 60 days after July 23, 1974; Dec. 26, 2013, No. 164, § 2.