2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART I - Banks (§§ 1 — 278) › Chapter 16 - International Banking Center (§§ 231 — 232x) › § 232a - Authority and duties of the Commissioner

(a) The Commissioner shall:
(1) Adopt, and may thereafter, from time to time, repeal, amend, or supplement rules and regulations in order to comply with the provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title;
(2) Collect fees for examinations and audits, receive monies and make disbursements according to its budget or as otherwise provided by law or regulations; Provided, That for Fiscal Year 2015-2016, of the funds collected on this account or any other in accordance with §§ 232 et seq. of this title, the sum of two million, seven hundred thousand dollars ($2,700,000) in account number 0750000-238-779-1998, or in any other created for the same purposes in the Department of the Treasury’s accounting system shall be transferred to the “2015-2016 Legal Liability Fund”.
Provided, further, That for Fiscal Year 2016-2017, the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) shall be transferred from account 0750000-238-779-1998 or any other account created for the same purposes in the Department of the Treasury's accounting system to the “Elections Support Fund”.
(3) open and maintain such bank accounts as may be necessary and appropriate for his operations;
(4) review and carry out investigations with regard to all applications for licenses to operate international banking entities;
(5) approve, grant conditional approval, or deny applications for permits and licenses to operate international banking entities; Provided, That any person whose applications has been denied or conditionally approved may request a hearing pursuant to the regulations provided in § 232s of this title;
(6) supervise, inspect, and audit international banking entities and require from them periodic reports and other information specified in the regulations of the Commissioner;
(7) require periodic auditing of the accounts of each international banking entity at least once a year, which shall include an audit of the financial condition of each international banking entity, its compliance with the terms of §§ 232 et seq. of this title and the regulations of the Commissioner, and such other matters as the Commissioner may deem appropriate;
(8) ascertain the financial security and operating soundness of international banking entities and ensure that they comply with applicable laws and regulations and with any other provision or requirement which the Commissioner may require by order or regulation;
(9) revoke or suspend a license to operate an international banking entity or impose any sanctions he may deem necessary and convenient pursuant to regulations; Provided, That any person whose license has been revoked or suspended, or to whom any other sanction has been imposed, shall have the right to request a hearing pursuant to the regulations provided in § 232s of this title;
(10) suspend, dismiss, or otherwise sanction any director, official, employee, agent, or individual acting in a similar capacity for an international banking entity, who violates, or voluntarily or negligently allows another person to violate §§ 232 et seq. of this title, its regulations, order, or any provision of the certificate of incorporation, partnership agreement or any written document establishing the international banking entity; Provided, That any individual who is suspended, dismissed, or sanctioned may request a hearing pursuant to the regulations provided for in Section 24 of this Act[sic];
(11) conduct studies and investigations, on petition of any interested party or on his/her own motion, of authorized matters or on apparent violations of §§ 232 et seq. of this title or the regulations of the Commissioner, and in doing so, he/she may require the necessary, pertinent, and critical information to achieve such purposes, as well as any other investigations as are necessary for the proper administration of the act or the regulations of the Commissioner. For purposes of this subsection, the applicant or licensee shall be responsible for defraying the costs of any special investigation ordered by the Commissioner. Any examination or investigation shall be kept confidential except as provided in § 232q of this title, and
(12) take actions and grant remedies as are necessary to enforce the provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title or the regulations thereunder.
(b) In the evaluation, analysis, consideration, award, renegotiation, and revision of any incentives or benefits granted under §§ 232 et seq. of this title, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions shall be required to oversee and ensure compliance with all the provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title. The Commissioner shall be the official responsible for verifying and ensuring that international banking entities meet the eligibility requirements established in §§ 232 et seq. of this title.
The Commissioner shall be required and responsible for preparing a Certificate of Compliance every two years, once the international banking entities validate, in the judgment of said official, that they meet the requirements of §§ 232 et seq. of this title. Every two years, the Commissioner shall verify the information submitted by international banking entities so that the Certificate of Compliance is issued not later than on the fifteenth (15 th) day of the second (2 nd) month after the close of the taxable year of the applicant.
The Certificate of Compliance shall include, in turn, the following information regarding international banking entities: the name of the entity; the cadastre number of the property or properties connected to the entity; the merchant registration number; the account connected to the business as required in the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code; the employer identification number; and the information required by §§ 1411 et seq. of Title 23, better known as the “Fiscal Information and Permit Control Act”, as applicable.
The Certificate of Compliance shall be issued by the Commissioner through the Interagency Validation Portal for the Granting of Incentives for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico, to the agencies, public corporations, and municipalities responsible for awarding benefits or incentives under §§ 232 et seq. of this title. However, during the period in which the Portal is still not operating, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to issue a Certificate of Compliance to the agencies, public corporations, and municipalities responsible for awarding the benefits or incentives under §§ 232 et seq. of this title following the ordinary procedure. The filing of the Certificate of Compliance by an international banking entity shall be an essential requirement for the agency, public corporation, or municipality to grant the benefit or incentive provided for in §§ 232 et seq. of this title.
Actions taken by the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM), or any other government official or body, or public corporation concerned, in connection with the qualification process for the granting of the benefits or incentives under §§ 232 et seq. of this title shall be limited to the taxation aspects of the granting of the benefit or incentive in question, upon the issuance of the Certificate of Compliance in effect, as provided in this section. The Commissioner shall be responsible, first and foremost, for overseeing eligibility under any and all provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title. However, the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM), or any other government official or body, or public corporation concerned with any of the benefits or incentives granted under §§ 232 et seq. of this title may contact the applicant and the Commissioner should further information be needed to validate the data on the Certificate of Compliance, and shall notify and request the applicant to supply such information in order to rectify the situation. The Secretary of the Department of the Treasury or the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM) may deny any tax incentives or benefits requested if, in their judgment, the information requested has not been supplied. Moreover, the provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title shall not preclude in any manner the power conferred to the Secretary of the Treasury under § 33202 of Title 13, known as the “Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011”; and, if necessary, the power to revoke any incentives previously granted by virtue of a Certificate of Compliance, in accordance with the corresponding act; or the power to refer the case to the pertinent agency or public corporation for the corresponding action.
(c) The Commissioner shall be empowered to summon witnesses and request the production of such documents as he may deem necessary to carry out any investigation which, in his judgment, shall be required to comply with the provisions of §§ 232 et seq. of this title. The information obtained through this process shall be kept confidential.
(d) If a person fails to comply with a summons issued by the Commissioner, the latter may seek whatever remedy may be legally applicable, from the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico; Provided, That the court with jurisdiction may order such person to comply with the summons of the Commissioner, under admonition of contempt of court.
(e) Within the term of ninety (90) days after the closing of each fiscal year of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commissioner shall remit to the Treasury Department, to be covered into the General Fund of the Government of Puerto Rico, fifteen percent (15%) of the net income obtained from his functions related to §§ 232 et seq. of this title for such fiscal year.
History —Aug. 11, 1989, No. 52, p. 178, § 3; Sept. 23, 2013, No. 110, § 2; July 2, 2015, No. 105, § 21; Nov. 17, 2015, No. 187, § 43; July 22, 2016, No. 81, § 5; Dec. 28, 2016, No. 208, § 13.