reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227d - Management

The powers of the Company shall be exercised, and its public policy, as well as its management shall be determined by a Board of Directors, hereinafter “the Board”, composed of nine (9) members. This body shall be composed of the Secretary of the Department, who shall be its Chairperson; the Executive Director of the Industrial Development Company; the Chairperson of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico; the Executive Director of the Ports Authority; the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. The Secretary of the Department may designate a representative, who shall have the competence, knowledge, and decision-making authority to represent the executive officer he/she substitutes [for] effectively. The representative designated by the Secretary shall answer directly to him/her, who, in turn shall be responsible for the determinations reached by the Board. The Board shall also be composed of three (3) representatives of the private sector, to wit, one (1) of whom shall represent the small and medium-size entrepreneurs in the local market, one (1) shall represent small and medium-size entrepreneurs in the international market, and one (1) shall represent a public or private university duly-accredited by the pertinent institutions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to be appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico with the advice and consent of the Senate, all of whom shall hold office for a term of four (4) years counted from the time of their appointment.
A majority of the directors shall constitute quorum of the Board of Directors for all purposes, and its agreements shall be made by the majority of the members present. The Board shall establish, through regulations, the sum for reimbursement of the expenses of the members of the private sector for each day they attend the meetings of the Board, as certified by its Secretary. The members of the Board who are officials of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall receive no compensation for their services. The other members of the Board who are not public officials are entitled to receive per diems for each Board meeting they attend, as certified by the Secretary, fixed by the Board from time to time, taking as a base the per diems paid by similar entities.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 7, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227f - Officers and employees

The Executive Director shall have the power to appoint and contract the services of all his/her employees, officials and agents, and confer to them the powers, faculties, responsibilities and authority he/she deems proper. Appointments, removals, promotions, transferences, dismissals, reinstatements, suspensions, leaves, and changes of category, remuneration or title of the officials and employees of the Company, shall be made and allowed as provided by the standards and regulations proposed by the Executive Director and approved by the Board, which although they are not subject to the “Public Service Personnel Act”, Act No. 5 of October 14, 1975, shall include and be in harmony with the areas essential to the merit principle found in the aforementioned sections.
None of the provisions set forth in this chapter shall affect the right to collective bargaining that has been enjoyed by the employees of the Puerto Rico Exports Development Corporation Act, nor their vested rights by virtue of the collective bargaining agreements, negotiated pursuant to §§ 61—76 of Title 29, known as the “Puerto Rico Public Service Labor Relations Act”. The Company shall recognize the vested rights of the employees through the Collective Bargaining Agreement approved July 2, 2002, under said sections.
Furthermore, the personnel of the Administration and of the Puerto Rico Exports Development Corporation shall retain all the rights, obligations, benefits, conditions and perquisites, including seniority within the Administration or Corporation, they held at the moment of the approval of this act, and according to those laws and regulations in effect at the time of the approval of this act in the respective entity in which they worked, with respect to employment or employment in Government service. Likewise, if the employee is a beneficiary of any pension, retirement, savings and loan fund system or systems, he/she shall retain the rights, privileges, obligations and status of the pension, retirement, savings and loan fund, regarding those prescribed by law for the personnel of the Administration, or the Puerto Rico Exports Development Corporation.
No person having a substantial, direct or indirect financial interest in any private enterprise for which the Company has provided the capital shall hold an executive position in the Company. Nothing provided herein shall be construed to contravene to [sic] the “Ethics in Government Act”, §§ 1801 et seq. of Title 3.
Nothing set forth in this chapter shall be construed as a limitation for the Company to have its own Classification and Remuneration Plan, as established by the Executive Director and approved by the Board.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 9, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227g - Dispensation for additional payment or extraordinary compensation

No official or employee of the Company shall receive additional pay or extraordinary compensation of any sort unless they have a dispensation with the express consent of the Executive Director. The additional pay or extraordinary compensation authorized by the dispensation shall not present any conflict with the performance of the work with the Company, nor impair the quality of the tasks rendered to the Company. This section shall in no way be construed that any person has the right to receive wages for more than one Government position or employment.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 10, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227h - Regulations

The regulations of the Company shall provide for the internal operations thereof and the duties and responsibilities of its officials. The regulations shall be recommended by the Executive Director and approved by the Board. Amendments to the regulations shall be proposed by the Executive Director and approved by the Board. No regulation or amendment thereof shall take effect until same has been duly registered in the official minute book of the Company, after having been approved by means of a Resolution of the Board. No regulation shall contravene the provisions of this chapter, or the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 11, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227j - Bonds—Tax exemption

To expedite the procurement of funds for the Company that will allow it to achieve its corporate purposes, the bonds issued by the Company and the revenues from same, shall be tax exempt.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 13, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227k - Bonds—Agreement with the Government

The Commonwealth Government binds itself by this chapter and agrees with any legal person who subscribes or acquires bonds or other obligations of the Company, not to burden, limit nor restrict the assets, income, revenues, rights or powers that are hereby conferred to the Company, until said bonds or other obligations, regardless of their date, together with the interest on same, are completely paid up and withdrawn.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 14, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227l - Liability of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

The bonds and other obligations issued by the Company shall not constitute a debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, nor of any of its municipalities or other political subdivisions. Neither the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, nor any of its municipalities or other political subdivisions are liable with regard thereto, nor shall the bonds or other obligations be payable from funds other than those of the Company.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 15, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227m - Injunctions

No injunction shall be issued to prevent the application of §§ 1227i—1227k of this title, or any part thereof.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 16, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227n - Provisions in conflict

In cases in which the provisions of §§ 1227i—1227k of this title are in conflict with the provisions of any other law, the provisions of §§ 1227—1227m of this title shall prevail, and no other law, approved before or after, regulating of the administration of the Commonwealth Government or of any parts, offices, bureaus, departments, commissions, agencies, municipalities, branches, agents, officials, or employees thereof shall be construed as applicable to the Company, unless it is thus expressly provided.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 17, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227o - Funds and guarantees—Budget

To allow the Company to perform its functions, powers and, duties conferred by this chapter, the existing balances of the budget of the Administration that are still in the custody of the Department of the Treasury and the Corporation for the Development of Exports for the current fiscal year, and other funds available pursuant to other laws and special funds are hereby transferred. The transfer of said special funds shall serve to maintain the incentive and training programs, among others, existing at the time of the approval of this act.
The debts, obligations, properties and any other type of assets and liabilities attributed to the transferred funds shall not be the responsibility of the Department nor of other agencies, public corporations, political subdivisions or other government entities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Those debts, obligations, properties or other types of assets or liabilities shall be charged exclusively against the transferred funds.
A transition term of six (6) years for the Company to become self-sustaining is provided expressly. During this period, the company shall submit its petition to the Management and Budget Office for the Legislature to approve the funds for the operation, incentives and services of the Company. For subsequent fiscal years, the Legislature of Puerto Rico, in the exercise of its powers, may assign additional funds to maintain the incentives and services programs offered to the entrepreneurs and merchants. With regard to this item assigned by the Legislature, the Company shall submit to the Management and Budget Office or to the Department of the Treasury any reports required by them with regard to the use of the funds appropriated by virtue of this chapter, or any other funds received through other legislative appropriations.
The Company shall also submit to the Legislature and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, on any other occasion that it is so required, official reports on all activities defrayed with the funds authorized pursuant to this section.
The Company shall keep a separate accounting for all obligations to be defrayed chargeable to the budget item appropriated in compliance with what is provided herein.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 18, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227p - Funds and guarantees—Transfer of reports, materials and equipment

All reports, materials, equipment and other properties used by the Administration and by the Puerto Rico Exports Development Corporation, up to the day before this act takes effect are hereby transferred to the Company to be used with regard to the functions transferred by the provisions of this chapter. This transfer includes the contracts in effect and all unspent balances of the appropriations, items, and other available funds, or that will be available to be used to perform said functions.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 19, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227q - Transfers

(a) Personnel. — All personnel employed at the moment this act becomes effective in the Commercial Development Company and the Puerto Rico Exports Development Corporation, and their functions are hereby transferred to the Company pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Property. —
(1) All assets of every type, including copyrights, agreements, liabilities, licenses and permits belonging to the Administration, in custody of the Department of the Treasury and the EDC by virtue of this chapter, are hereby transferred to the Company, without need to execute contracts, deeds, transfer documents nor endorsements or any kind of additional transfers, to become the property of, and shall be deemed as conveyed and transferred to the Commerce and Exports Corporation, which may freely dispose of them without any limitation.
(2) Free Trade Zone Number 61 of San Juan and the license under which it operates are hereby transferred to the Company to be managed by it.
(c) Property; other government entities. — The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, its agencies and political subdivisions, including municipalities, are hereby authorized to cede and transfer to the Company, upon its request and under reasonable terms and conditions, without needing to hold a public auction or other legal formalities other than the granting of the corresponding deed, any property or interest in the same (including goods already devoted to public use), that the Company deems necessary or convenient to achieve its goals.
Pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, the deed to any property of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including the title to any property to be acquired subsequently, may be transferred to the Company by the official in charge of said property or that has it under his/her jurisdiction.
The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works may transfer to the Company, free of any cost, the land belonging to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that, in the judgment of the Governor of Puerto Rico is needed by the Company to accomplish its ends and purposes.
The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works shall annually submit to the Legislature a list of the properties ceded and transferred to the Company by virtue of the authorization contained herein, and the appraisal of each property.
These provisions shall not be construed in the context of authorizing the ceding or transfer of property intended for other purposes by legislative provision.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, §§ 20—22, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80A - Trade and Export Company (§§ 1227 — 1227r) › § 1227r - Tax exemption

It is hereby resolved and declared that the purposes for which the Company and the different subsidiary corporations organized by it are public purposes for the general benefit of the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The exercise of the powers and rights conferred under this chapter constitute the performance of essential government functions. Therefore, the Company and any subsidiary organized by it, shall not be required to pay taxes, state, or municipal imposts on any of the properties acquired by it or by any of them, or on their activities in the operation or conservation of any of its enterprises and properties that have not been sold, leased or otherwise transferred to third parties.
The revenues, interest or income produced by the bonds or any of the obligations issued by the Company or its subsidiaries, shall likewise be exempted from any type of taxes, or state or municipal imposts.
For all the preceding effects, it shall be understood as subsidiary, every commercial, industrial, mining or cooperative entity or organization, whose paid up capital, if a company, or whose assets, if a non-corporate entity, are wholly owned by the Company.
History —Dec. 28, 2003, No. 323, § 23, eff. 90 days after Dec. 28, 2003.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1231 - Definitions

For purposes of this chapter, the words and terms used or referred to shall have the meaning stated below:
(1) Economic year. — Shall mean the period of time which begins on July 1st of any year and ends on June 30th of the following year.
(2) Retirement choice. — Shall mean the voluntary and irrevocable choice to avail oneself to the Program’s benefits, made by any employee who meets the requirements to participate in the Program.
(3) Effective date of the pension. — Shall mean the day after the date on which the participant ceases in his/her functions in his/her position.
(4) Participant. — Shall mean any employee of the Commerce and Exportation Company who has been employed by the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation and the Commercial Development Administration, who meets the requirements provided for in this chapter to participate in the Program and who during the choice period makes a retirement choice.
(5) Choice period. — Shall mean the period during which any employee who meets the requirements provided for in this chapter for participation in the Program may choose to avail him/herself of the benefits of this chapter.
(6) Program. — Shall mean the Temporary [sic] Retirement Program of the Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Employees. The same shall be administered by the Employee Retirement System of the Government of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities, with the collaboration of the Commerce and Exportation Company.
(7) Average compensation. — Shall mean the highest annual compensation of a participant during any three (3) years of creditable service up to the date of separation from the service.
(8) Creditable service. — Shall mean the service that is creditable under the Retirement Systems Act.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1233 - Debts of the participant with the Retirement System

In the event there is a debt contracted by a participant in which his/her accrued contributions are being used as guarantee, it is hereby provided that the benefits provided for in this chapter shall respond, in the first instance, for outstanding obligations contracted by the participant with the Retirement System. The Retirement System shall require the payment of said debts in monthly installments to be deducted from the participant’s retirement annuity under the Program by the Retirement System Administrator for payment to the Retirement System.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1234 - Prohibition on double compensation

Employees who avail themselves of this Early Retirement Program who do not yet meet the age and service year requirements provided in § 766a of Title 3, may not be contracted or hold any position whatsoever in the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, pursuant to the provisions on double compensation established in the Political Code.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1235 - Tax exemption for contributions

All money contributions made by a participant to the Retirement System shall be exempted from the payment of any kind of taxes upon distribution of the program’s benefits.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1236 - Benefits as personal rights; exceptions

The right to retirement annuities, death benefits and any other benefits, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, regardless of their denomination, shall constitute a personal right of the receiver thereof, and the transfer of said benefits and reimbursements, or of part thereof, shall be null and void; except when otherwise provided in this chapter. None of said pensions or benefits may be claimed for the payment of debts contracted by persons receiving the same.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237 - Implementation

The Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company, in its capacity as a public corporation, shall implement a Voluntary Early Retirement Program to include all employees of said company who by December 31, 2006, have completed a minimum of twenty-four (24) years of credited services as participants in the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities.
Implementation of the Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company herein authorized shall be done in strict compliance with all labor laws, the collective bargaining agreements in effect and with due respect to the Merit Principle, to the legal provisions that prohibit political discrimination and to the vested rights of the public servants employed in said entity.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237a - Pension

All employees who comply with the provisions of § 1237 of this title and who by December 31, 2006, have completed twenty-four (24) or more years of credited services regardless of their age and who voluntarily avail themselves of the Program authorized in this chapter, shall be entitled to receive a pension of seventy-five percent (75%) of their average compensation.
The Trade and Export Company shall not condition the opportunity of the employees eligible for availing themselves of the Voluntary Early Retirement System to relinquish ongoing or pending adjudication judicial or administrative claims against the Company.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237b - Reduction of vacant positions; indispensable positions

It is hereby provided that with the implementation of this Early Retirement Program, the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company shall reduce the number of positions left vacant as a product of the same.
It is further provided that the positions of those employees who have retired shall neither be reopened nor subcontracted for performing the tasks that would have been undertaken by the employees who retired, as long as said tasks are not indispensable for the operation of the Trade and Export Company.
It shall be understood that indispensable positions are those whose functions are fundamental and vitally essential for the most effective operation of the Trade and Export Company.
The indispensable positions must be identified and made known to those employees who by June 30, 2007, occupy them, not later than thirty (30) days [following] the effective date of this act.
In case any indispensable position must be reopened or personnel subcontracted to occupy any indispensable position, the employees of the Trade and Export Company, as the case may be, shall be given priority for occupying said positions. The Trade and Export Company must train those employees who ask to occupy an indispensable position so that they may meet the requirements of said position provided this is not too onerous for the Company. The Company shall take the administrative and operational reorganization measures needed to permit the elimination of any non-indispensable position rendered vacant.
The Company shall take the administrative and operational reorganization measures authorized in this chapter to eliminate the positions rendered vacant due to the implementation of the Voluntary Early Retirement Program herein provided. This shall be done in strict compliance with all labor laws, the collective bargaining agreements in effect and with due respect to the Merit Principle, to the legal provisions that prohibit political discrimination and to the vested rights of the public servants employed in said entity.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237c - Incentive

The Trade and Export Company shall grant to the employees who comply with the parameters set forth in §§ 1237 and 1237a of this title an incentive to constitute the payment of:
(a) A medical insurance plan for one year under the conditions of the plan which the employee actually holds as of the effective date of his/her retirement or a bonus equal to the cost of the contribution made by the Company for that benefit. Subsequently, the Company shall contribute to the Retirement Systems Administration the payment for the medical insurance plan which is in effect for the pensioners under said system, until the participant is eligible for obtaining the benefits of the Administration.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237d - Election period

Employees who meet the requirements established in this chapter to avail themselves of the Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company shall exercise their decision of joining said plan within a term of sixty (60) calendar days, a term which begins after this act takes effect.
In cases whereby it is required to train the new personnel who shall occupy the positions made vacant due to the Voluntary Early Retirement Program herein authorized, it may be possible to recruit those employees who held those positions and availed themselves of early retirement through contracts which shall not exceed a non-renewable term of three (3) months, without being subject to the provisions of § 1827(e) of Title 3, part of the act known as the “Ethics in Government Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237e - Non-credited services; application

In those cases whereby employees, in order to be able to complete their twenty-four (24) years of service, need accreditation for services not credited in the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, he/she shall submit their application to the Coordinator for Retirement Matters of the Trade and Export Company before the date of separation from service. It is further provided that the employees may be able to use the accrued vacation and sick leave to compute the months they may need to complete the requirements for retirement provided in this chapter and so be able to avail themselves of this window. To those effects, every twenty (20) days accrued shall equal a month of work.
The Coordinator for Retirement Matters of the Trade and Export Company shall certify to the Retirement System that the application for services not credited was submitted while the employee was still in active service.
The Administrator of the Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall accept payment for the accreditation for services not credited from the employee even when the latter is not in active service, as an exception to § 765a of Title 3, provided he/she receives the certification for the services not credited issued by the Coordinator for Retirement Matters of the Trade and Export Company. The effective date of the pension shall be the day after separation from service, regardless of whether the employee has not finished paying for the accreditation for services not credited.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237f - Actuarial cost

The actuarial cost of the pensions provided in this chapter, as determined by the Administrator of the Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall be paid by the Trade and Export Company to the Retirement Systems Administration prior to the implementation of the Voluntary Early Retirement Program. Said actuarial cost shall consist of the difference between the present value of the accelerated pension provided in this chapter and the present value of a pension for years of service under the provisions of §§ 761 et seq. of Title 3.
It is furthermore provided that the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company shall annually compensate the Retirement Systems Administration for the expenses incurred for the implementation and administration of the Voluntary Early Retirement Program authorized by this chapter and for all actuarial studies that may have been solicited or are solicited by the Company from the Retirement System. The funds for paying for the Voluntary Early Retirement Program shall proceed from the own funds of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company and thus the resources of the General Fund of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall not be encumbered. It shall neither be possible to solicit legislative appropriations, loans and/or lines of credit to pay for the Program.
In the event the payment made by the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company pursuant to § 1237e of this title, is greater than then actuarial cost, the Retirement Systems Administration shall reimburse to the Trade and Export Company the excess of the amount paid within a period of not more than thirty (30) days [following] the effective date of the Program. If on the contrary the payment made by the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company were insufficient, the latter shall issue a payment for the additional cost certified by the Retirement Systems Administration within a period of not more than thirty (30) days [following] the effective date of the Program.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237h - Applicability of §§ 761 et seq. of Title 3

All provisions of §§ 761 et seq. of Title 3, not in conflict with this chapter, shall apply to the Voluntary Early Retirement Program herein authorized.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237i - Payment of new benefit

The Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company shall be liable for the payment of any new benefit granted by law to pensioners who have availed themselves of this Early Retirement Plan.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 10.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237j - Applicability of the provisions of this chapter

The provisions of this act shall also be [applicable] to those employees who as of the effective date of the latter have availed themselves of some type of leave pursuant to the regulations of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company, any collective bargaining agreement or any applicable statutes.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 11.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237k - Orientation

The Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company, in coordination with the Retirement Systems Administration, shall provide orientation to all its employees who qualify for the Voluntary Early Retirement Program on its benefits and criteria.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80C - Voluntary Early Retirement Program for the Employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company (§§ 1237 — 1237l) › § 1237l - Administration; report

The Office of Human Resources of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is ordered to oversee the administration and implementation of and due compliance with the Voluntary Retirement Program authorized in this chapter, for the employees of the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company. The Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company shall render a report to the Legislature within the term of thirty (30) days, regarding the number of employees who availed themselves of the Program herein provided, as well as the cost of the same, once the implementation of the Voluntary Retirement Program herein approved has concluded.
History —July 13, 2007, No. 66, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1241 - Title and purpose

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “1996 Investment Capital Fund Act of Puerto Rico”. The purpose of this chapter is to encourage Puerto Rico’s economic development through the joint participation of the private and public sectors in the generation of investment capital geared exclusively towards high-risk projects, businesses or activities located in Puerto Rico for which traditional capitalization is not easily obtained by private enterprise. The public sector’s participation shall be limited to the selection of economic activity sectors that must be stimulated by offering adequate tax incentives, and fixing the general norms to establish and operate the investment funds or other investment entities that are generated, and to supervise the strict compliance of such established norms.
On the other hand, the private sector will risk its own funds and shall be charged with carrying out and administering those activities it selects within the general framework fixed by this chapter and by the regulations adopted by virtue thereof.
In general terms, the purpose sought through this chapter is to stimulate the formation of venture capital to be invested in projects, businesses or enterprises of an embryonic nature, or that are in the first stages of their development or growth, as described in § 1243 of this title.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 1; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1244 - Organization and trade name

(a) An investment capital fund or a designated entity that is a corporation or trust shall be organized pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(b) An investment capital fund or a designated entity may be constituted as a partnership pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or of any of the states of the United States of America; provided that, in the case of a foreign partnership, the same shall be treated as a partnership, and not as a corporation or association taxable as a corporation, for the purposes of the 1986 United States Internal Revenue Code, as amended.
(c) Each fund or a designated entity shall be constituted with a name or trade name, whose name or trade name shall not be identical nor so similar that it causes confusion with that of another pre-existing fund or a designated entity.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 4; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1245 - Capital, list of investors, loans

(a) The capital of each fund or designated entity shall consist of the restricted use capital and the unrestricted use capital. The acquisition of proprietary interests in the fund or the designated entity may be carried out in cash or bearer notes payable in cash, but the acquisition of eligible proprietary interests shall only be carried out in cash.
(b) The fund’s administrator, or in the case of designated entities, the trustee, the secretary of the board of directors or the managing partner, shall keep a list or registry of the persons who acquire proprietary interests in the fund or the designated entity, including that information established by the Commissioner through regulations to such effect.
(c) A fund may only borrow money under the Small Business Investment Companies program administered by the Federal Small Business Administration or its successor.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 5; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1246 - Responsibilities of investors

(a) The investors in a fund shall answer for the fund’s debts or obligations only up to the total amount invested.
(b) Passive investors in a designated entity shall answer for the designated entity’s debts or obligations only up to the total amount invested.
(c) Non-passive investors in a designated entity shall answer for the designated entity’s debts or obligations up to the total amount corresponding to them under the applicable laws.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 6; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1248 - Reports; obligation to file

The fund or the designated entity shall file the reports required by the Commissioner and he/she shall be responsible for regulating their contents and the date on which they shall be filed. The fund or the designated entity shall forward a true and exact copy of said reports to the Secretary and the Bank within the term established through the regulations promulgated by the Commissioner.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 8; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 8.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1249 - Noncompliance with requirements, duties and obligations; authorization to liquidate

(a) Noncompliance with requirements, duties and obligations. — The Commissioner may impose and collect an administrative fine of five hundred dollars ($500), when he/she determines that during a specific taxable year the fund or the designated entity failed to comply with any of the requirements, duties and obligations established by this chapter or by regulations. After the corresponding administrative procedures are completed, the Commissioner may also revoke the fund’s license or the designated entity’s joint resolution for noncompliance or violations of the provisions of this chapter or the regulations promulgated thereunder.
The procedure to impose administrative fines and to revoke licenses or joint resolutions shall be established by regulations and it shall meet the minimum requirements of due process of law.
(b) Authorization to liquidate a fund. — The Commissioner shall determine when a fund may be liquidated through the procedures and on the grounds established by regulations. Once the liquidation of the fund is authorized, the Commissioner shall inform the Secretary and shall provide him/her with the information this official may require.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 9; July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1252 - Taxation—Special tax on net long-term capital gains

In the case of sale, exchange, disposition or transfer of proprietary interests in a fund or designated entity (including that related to the total liquidation of the fund or designated entity), any capital gain attributable to the investment in proprietary interests in the fund or designated entity shall be subject to a ten percent (10%) tax on the amount of the excess of any net long-term capital gains over any net short term capital loss. The individual, estate, trust, partnership or corporation that is an investor in the fund or the designated entity may opt to include said gains as part of his/her gross income on the income tax return for the year in which that gain is recognized, and pay a tax pursuant to the normal tax rates, whichever is most beneficial for the taxpayer.
The tax levied by this section shall be paid as provided in §§ 8401 et seq. of Title 13.
In the event of a designated entity that is, in turn, an exempt business under the Incentives Act, the investor may also choose to pay taxes on said gains pursuant to the provisions of § 10042(f) of Title 13 or, in the case of a liquidation, to the provisions of § 10044 of Title 13, part of the Incentives Act.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 12, renumbered as § 13 and amended on July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 81 - Investment Capital Fund (§§ 1241 — 1260a) › § 1253 - Involuntary conversions

(a) When the Commissioner revokes a fund’s license due to violations of this chapter or its regulations, or when under § 1247 of this title hereof he/she denies the renewal of the license to an investment capital fund that was operating pursuant to this chapter, and, in any of said cases, determines that the total liquidation of the fund is not in the best interests of the investors or other interested parties, he/she shall immediately notify the Bank and it will create a trust, or the Commissioner shall authorize the creation of another fund to receive the assets and moneys of the first, and shall continue operating it. The Commissioner, at his/her discretion, may appoint a trustee to administer or liquidate the fund, in substitution of the above-mentioned procedures.
(b)
(1) The investors in the fund that ceases to operate because its license is not renewed or was revoked, but whose operations shall continue pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, shall receive in exchange of the proprietary interests they have in the fund, shares in the trust created by the Bank or in the new fund authorized by the Commissioner, that are equivalent to their respective shares in the fund that ceased to operate.
(2) For the purposes of §§ 8401 et seq. of Title 13, the terms “involuntary conversion” and “conversion in similar property” include the exchange of an investment in proprietary interests of a fund for shares in a trust created by the Bank, or in a new fund authorized by the Commissioner in accordance with what is established in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) For the purposes of §§ 8401 et seq. of Title 13, the investor in a fund shall not acknowledge a profit or a loss in an exchange carried out pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of this section, of an investment in proprietary interests in a fund for a share in a trust created by the Bank. or in a fund authorized by the Commissioner in accordance with what is established in subsection (a) of this section.
(d) The tax base of the investor’s share in the trust created by the Bank, or in the new fund authorized by the Commissioner pursuant to what is established in subsection (a) of this section. Shall be equal to the base that the investor had in proprietary interests in the original fund immediately before the exchange.
(e) For the purposes of § 1251(d) of this title, the internal base with regard to each proprietary interest in the trust created by the Bank or in the new fund authorized by the Commissioner pursuant to what is established in subsection (a) of this section, shall be equal to the internal base with regard to the equivalent proprietary interest in the original fund immediately before the exchange.
History —Oct. 6, 1987, No. 3, p. 840, § 13, renumbered as § 14 and amended on July 11, 1996, No. 70, § 14.