2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 120 - Puerto Rico Emergency Moratorium and Rehabilitation Act (§§ 9281 — 9311) › Subchapter III - Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (§§ 9301 — 9311) › § 9302 - Purposes, faculties and powers of the Authority

(a) The Authority is created for the purpose of acting as fiscal agent, financial advisor and reporting agent of the Commonwealth and its public corporations, instrumentalities, commissions, authorities, municipalities and political subdivisions and to assist such entities in confronting the grave fiscal and economic emergency that the Commonwealth is currently experiencing.
(b) All fiscal agency, financial advisory, and reporting functions of GDB shall be transferred to the Authority, including all powers and responsibilities under the §§ 581 et seq. of Title 7. The Authority shall oversee all matters related to the restructuring or adjustment of any obligation, or otherwise coordinate and implement liability management transactions for any obligation of the Commonwealth and any of its instrumentalities. The Authority shall also assume, and become a party to, any and all contracts between GDB and any advisor, including legal and financial advisors, whether or not the salaries or fees were incurred prior to the date of such assumption, related to the restructuring or adjustment of obligations of the Commonwealth or any of its instrumentalities. Any reference in any Commonwealth law enacted prior to the effective date of this act to (1) GDB, in its role as fiscal agent, financial advisor or reporting agent of the Commonwealth and its instrumentalities, or in relation to any operation including functions assigned to GDB pursuant to §§ 2601 et seq. of Title 27, that is not a banking operation, shall be understood to refer and apply to the Authority and (2) the President of GDB, in connection with his functions, responsibilities and powers related to GDB’s functions as fiscal agent, financial advisor or reporting agent of the Commonwealth and its instrumentalities, or to any operation of GDB that is not a banking operation, including functions assigned to GDB pursuant to §§ 2601 et seq. of Title 27, shall be understood to refer and apply to the Executive Director of the Authority; Provided, That, (A) whenever any provision of any Commonwealth law states that the President of GDB shall serve as member of a board of directors of a public corporation or instrumentality, the Governor shall have discretion to appoint the President of GDB or the Executive Director of the Authority, to occupy such position, and (B) should there be any doubt as to whether any provision in any law refers to GDB, in its role as fiscal agent, financial advisor or reporting agent of the Commonwealth and its instrumentalities, or in relation to any operation that is not a banking operation, the opinion of the Secretary of Justice of the Commonwealth may be requested and his interpretation thereof may be relied on for purposes of the interpretation of this provision.
(c) In order to achieve its purposes, the Authority is granted, and will have and may exercise, all the rights and powers as are necessary or convenient to carry out such purposes, including, but without limitation, the following:
(1) To adopt, alter and use a corporate seal which shall be recognized by the courts;
(2) to formulate, adopt, amend and revoke by-laws for the administration of its corporate affairs and those standards, rules and regulations that may be necessary or pertinent to exercise and perform its functions, powers and duties;
(3) to have complete dominion over all its properties;
(4) to determine the nature of and need for all its expenses, and the manner in which the same shall be incurred, authorized and paid without taking into consideration any legal provisions that regulate the expenditure of public funds, and such determination shall be final and binding for all the officials of the Commonwealth, but it must adopt rules for the use and disbursement of its funds and it shall be subject to audits conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico;
(5) to sue and be sued under its own name, to file complaints and defend itself in all courts of justice and administrative bodies and to participate in commercial arbitration proceedings;
(6) to negotiate and execute with any person, including any federal or state government agency, any type of contract, including all those instruments and agreements necessary or convenient to exercise the powers and functions conferred to the Authority by this chapter;
(7) to acquire any property through any legal means;
(8) to appoint and remove officers, agents and employees and to grant them the powers, impose on them the duties and fix, change and pay them the compensation determined by the Authority;
(9) to accept donations from any person, and to use the proceeds of any such donations for any corporate purpose;
(10) to procure insurance against losses in the amounts and with the insurers it deems desirable, which insurance may include, without it being construed as a limitation, civil liability insurance for directors, officers, agents and employees;
(11) to assume any and all contracts and related liabilities of GDB, or its successor;
(12) the power to charge and collect fiscal agency fees;
(13) to exercise such other corporate powers, not inconsistent herewith, as are conferred upon private corporations by the laws of Puerto Rico and to exercise all its powers within and without Puerto Rico to the same extent as natural persons might or could do; and
(14) to take any action or measure necessary or convenient to enforce the powers conferred by this chapter or by any other law of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico or of the United States Congress.
History —Apr. 6, 2016, No. 21, § 602; July 12, 2016, No. 68, § 1.18.