2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART VI - Control And Supervision (§§ 2001 — 2109) › Chapter 131 - Office of the Financial Institutions Commissioner (§§ 2001 — 2021) › § 2020 - Penalties

(a) Any financial institution or person who violates the provisions of this chapter or the regulations promulgated hereunder shall be subjected to an administrative fine to be determined by the Commissioner, which in no case shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). Any financial institution or person who violates the provisions of the other laws and regulations under the Commissioner’s administration and jurisdiction shall be subjected to the penalty provided for such violation in the applicable laws or regulations.
(b) Any director or official of a financial institution who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or its regulations shall be subjected to an administrative fine which shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) in the case of a first infraction. In case of a second and subsequent infractions, he shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each infraction or by a penalty of confinement for a fixed term of fifteen (15) months. If there were aggravating circumstances, the fixed term established may be increased to a maximum of twenty-four (24) months; if there were extenuating circumstances, it may be reduced to a minimum of nine (9) months. The court may impose both penalties, in its discretion.
(c) The Commissioner may impose an administrative fine that shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day that a financial institution fails to comply with the orders issued under the provisions of this chapter; Provided, That in no case may the sum total of the fines exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). The Commissioner may bring civil suit in the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, for the collection of said administrative fine, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction in this proceeding.
(d) Any person who in order to obtain for him or herself or for a third party any benefit, acts, offers, announces or advertises that he or she provides services proper to financial institutions as defined in this chapter without being duly licensed or authorized to do so by the Office of the Commissioner and in the course of his or her actions:
(1) Makes any false statement concerning a material fact for the purpose of inducing or persuading a person to err; or
(2) engages in misrepresentation for the purpose of inducing or persuading a person to conduct a business transaction;
(3) unduly retains any property, sum of money and/or document related to any transaction or fails to inform the person with whom the transaction is conducted as to his or her right to any property, sum of money or document that may be part of the transaction; or
(4) induces a party in a transaction to rescind a contract and execute a new one when the main objective of the new contract is to benefit a third party or him or herself; or
(5) incurs [in] embezzlement or misappropriation of funds; or
(6) incurs in falsifying documents that are part of a transaction; or
(7) employs any trick, ruse or ploy to defraud another person; or
(8) engages in any act, practice or type of business that results or would result in fraud or is used to deceive another person, or
(9) injures or intends injury to a third party, shall be sanctioned with the penalty of imprisonment for a fixed term of ten (10) years. Should there be aggravating circumstances the fixed penalty established may be increased for up to a maximum of twelve (12) years; should there be extenuating circumstances, the fixed penalty established may be reduced for up to a minimum of six (6) years.
The court, at its discretion, may impose the fixed penalty of imprisonment established, a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), nor of more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation, the penalty of restitution or any combination thereof.
Any person who takes part, instigates or cooperates with the commission of these acts shall be likewise sanctioned, regardless of whether he or she obtained or failed to obtain any personal economic profits.
(e) Every functionary, official, employee or examiner of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and of the Financial Board shall give oath that he will not divulge the information obtained in his investigations or any information derived from the performance of his official duties. The functionary, official, employee or examiner who breaks his oath shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine which shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for a term that shall not exceed six (6) months, or both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
In the case of confidential information obtained from investigative and public law and order agencies, every officer, official, employee or examiner of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions who, through negligence or omission, or deliberately, offers information, publishes or publicly comments said information, without the written authorization of the Commissioner, shall be charged with a felony and upon conviction shall be imposed a penalty of imprisonment for a fixed term of three (3) years. If there were aggravating circumstances, the penalty may be increased to a maximum of five (5) years; if there were extenuating circumstances the penalty may be reduced to a maximum of two (2) years. The person thus convicted may be referred to the benefits of a suspended sentence, to be determined by the court.
(f) The first Commissioner of the Financial Institutions Commissioner’s Office shall not work nor render professional, consulting, or executive services in a financial institution covered by the provisions of this chapter until one (1) year has elapsed from the date he ceases in his functions or office in the Office of the Commissioner. Any violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be subject to the penalty provided in subsection (d) of this section.
The provisions of this subsection do not imply or grant any exemption or release from the application of § 1801 et seq. of Title 3, known as the Ethics in Government Act, to officers, employees officials and examiners of the Commissioner’s Office.
History —Oct. 11, 1985, No. 4, p. 857, § 20; June 16, 1989, No. 12, p. 57; Oct. 23, 1999, No. 319, § 6; Aug. 11, 2000, No. 159, § 1.