2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 86 - Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations Act of 2002 (§§ 1361 — 1371b) › Subchapter VIII - Administrative Provisions, Inspection (§§ 1368 — 1368j) › § 1368h - Permits and certificate—Suspension, revocation, cancellation

The Corporation may temporarily suspend or permanently revoke the operating permit of any cooperative and require the Secretary of State to cancel its registration certificate when:
(a) The total number of members of a cooperative is reduced to less than double the number of the elected bodies;
(b) the permit to operate as a cooperative entity is obtained through fraud or error;
(c) the cooperative fails to function and operate;
(d) it is proved, to the satisfaction of the Corporation, that the cooperative is functioning with an illegal purpose, or in violation of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations adopted thereby, after having been duly notified of it by the Corporation;
(e) the cooperative expressly requests it of the Corporation and it deems it is convenient after obtaining the necessary evidence as determined;
(f) [the cooperative] refuses to file certified statements on the total shares and deposits as required by the Corporation;
(g) [the cooperative] refuses to pay insurance premiums, capital shares or special premiums required by the Corporation through its laws and regulations, or
(h) [the cooperative] refuses to correct any error or omission of the certified statements required by the Corporation, or refuses to pay the amounts owed for annual or special premiums, surcharges and interest, or refuses to deposit the capital contribution required by law or to pay any administrative fine that has been imposed on it.
Before issuing an order pursuant to what is provided in this section, the Corporation shall take adequate measures to protect the interests of the members of the cooperative and of the insurance fund of the Corporation. When the Corporation ascertains the existence of any of the causes established above, it shall notify the Board of the cooperative in question, advising it of its intention of temporarily suspending, or permanently revoking the operating permit of the cooperative. Said notice shall state the grounds on which it bases its determination.
In the cases under subsections (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this section, the Corporation shall fix a term of not less than twenty (20) days for the Board of the cooperative to evaluate the charges and submit a writ, stating the grounds for which the permit to operate as a cooperative entity should not be suspended or revoked. The Corporation shall consider the grounds presented within thirty (30) days following its receipt, and when it deems that the charges are rectifiable, it may grant the cooperative a term to rectify them, establishing the manner it must conduct its operations during said term. When, in the judgment of the Corporation, the grounds presented by the Board are not sufficient, the Corporation shall permanently revoke the operating permit of the cooperative, and shall request the Secretary of State to cancel its registration certificate.
When the registration certificate of a cooperative is permanently cancelled, the Corporation shall notify all the members by publishing two (2) notices in at least two (2) daily newspapers, within the two (2) weeks following the date of cancellation of the registration, or in writing to the last known address. The cooperatives whose registration certificate is cancelled permanently, shall desist from participating [in] all the privileges they hold as a cooperative entity as of the date the notices required in this section are published. This provision shall not affect the existence of the assets and liabilities of the cooperative, which shall remain in full force and effect as if it continues to enjoy its authorization to operate as a cooperative entity, until they are duly-liquidated by the Corporation. Nor shall it deprive the members of the cooperative of the shares and deposit insurance guarantees of the Corporation.
History —Oct. 28, 2002, No. 255, § 8.09.