2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART I - Banks (§§ 1 — 278) › Chapter 13 - Foreign Banks (§ 181) › § 181 - Foreign banks doing business in Puerto Rico

Hereafter, any banking corporation or entity organized under the laws of the United States of America, its territories, a state of the Union, or any foreign country which operates a bank and does business at the place of its incorporation, may do business and establish offices in Puerto Rico, provided that before commencing its operations in Puerto Rico, it files with the office of the Secretary of State, a duly-authenticated copy of its corporate charter or articles of incorporation and a certificate sworn to by the president, manager, agent or cashier or other authorized official of such bank, and attested to by a majority of its Board of Directors, stating:
(a) The name of said bank.
(b) The location of its existing or proposed main office or place of business in Puerto Rico.
(c) The purpose or purposes of its business.
(d) The amount of its paid-in capital.
(e) The amount of capital in cash.
(f) The amount of the bank’s assets, and of what they consist, their cash value.
(g) An itemized statement of its liabilities; whether any of its debts are secured, and how secured.
(h) The names and mailing addresses of all the directors and officials of the bank and the dates when their terms of office expire.
Said foreign bank shall also file at the same time, with the office of the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, a certificate with the official seal of the bank and signed by the president, vice-president or other acting head, and its cashier, if there is one, stating that said bank has consented to be sued in the courts of Puerto Rico in any all causes of action originated against it in Puerto Rico and that the service of notice on the bank as defendant as well as any other judicial proceeding may be made on a given person, resident of Puerto Rico, whose name and place of residence shall be stated on said certificate; and said service or thus made upon said an agent, shall be valid service on said bank.
The written consent of the person designated to act as said agent shall likewise be filed, and such designation shall remain in force until a written revocation of the same is filed in said office, executed in alike manner, in which case some other person shall be designated to act as such an agent.
A certified copy of a designation so filed, together with a certificate stating that it has not been revoked, shall constitute presumptive evidence that the designation has been made and shall be conclusive evidence of the authority of the official making it.
Should any foreign bank commence to do business in Puerto Rico without first having filed the aforesaid statement, certificates, designation of agents and consents required by §§ 1 et seq. of this title, it shall be fined in behalf of the Government of Puerto Rico, an amount not greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day it fails to deliver said documents for filing. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Justice to sue for and collect, on account of the Government of Puerto Rico, before the Court of First Instance, San Juan Superior Part, the abovementioned fine and said amount, together with any other fines herein provided, when so collected, shall be covered into the general funds of the Treasury of Puerto Rico.
No foreign bank may open branches or change its location in Puerto Rico without first obtaining the written approval of the Commissioner. Provided, That in the case of the transfer of branches previously established in Puerto Rico, they shall be understood to be authorized should no objection be forthcoming from the Commissioner within thirty (30) days after the notice of transfer of the branch has been filed. As soon as the Commissioner receives a written application from any foreign bank to open a branch or change its location, he/she shall conduct any investigations he/she may deem necessary for the establishing or transfer of said branch.
No bank organized under laws other than those of Puerto Rico shall do business in Puerto Rico unless it complies with the provisions of §§ 1 et seq. of this title. Violations of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day said bank operates without complying with said provisions. Any person who makes a false oath in any case where an oath is required under this section, or any person who files said sworn statement, or causes it to be filed, shall be guilty of perjury.
History —May 12, 1933, No. 55, p. 322, § 39; May 12, 1936, No. 74, p. 374, § 14; May 15, 1938, No. 199, p. 387, § 9; Sept. 7, 1961, No. 12, p. 353, § 1; June 30, 1971, No. 124, p. 375, § 4; Aug. 28, 1997, No. 108, § 45.