2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TEN - Commerce (§§ 1 — 4196) › Subtitle 1 - Regulation of Business Generally (§§ 1 — 998q) › Chapter 36 - Retail Installment Sales and Finance Companies (§§ 731 — 793) › Subchapter III - Financing Companies (§§ 761 — 764) › § 761 - License

(1) No person, except a bank, trust company, investment company or credit union organized or authorized to do business under the laws of Puerto Rico or a credit union organized or authorized to do business under the laws of the United States, shall engage in the business of a [finance] company in Puerto Rico without obtaining a license therefor from the Commissioner.
(2) The application for a license under the chapter shall be in writing, under oath, and in the form prescribed by the Commissioner, and shall contain the following:
(a) The complete name of the applicant, and the date and place of incorporation, if incorporated.
(b) The complete address of the place where the business is to be conducted, including street and number, and the municipality.
(c) Any other pertinent information required by the Commissioner.
(3) Upon filing of the application, the applicant shall pay five hundred dollars ($500) to the Commissioner on account of investigation fees and five hundred dollars ($500) on account of annual license fees provided herein for the current calendar year, through a certified check issued to the order of the Secretary of the Treasury. The annual license fee for each branch shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250) and investigation fee shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
Upon filing the application and paying the fees, the Commissioner shall conduct the investigations he/she deems necessary, and if he/she finds that the financial accountability, experience, character and general aptitude of the applicant are such that it would result in public benefit and justify the belief that the business shall be administered legally and fairly, within the purposes of this chapter, and that the applicant has set aside for the business a paid-in capital of not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in liquid assets, the Commissioner shall then approve said application and issue a license to the applicant which shall be the authorization to do business under the provisions of this chapter.
Each license shall remain in effect provided all corresponding annual fees are paid or until the same has been revoked or relinquished. All license holders shall renew their license through strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the payment of the annual fee provided in this chapter, and the presentation of any other information that the Commissioner may require not later than the first day of December of each year. If the payment and the information required for renewal are not received on or before December 31, it shall be understood that the license has been relinquished. No other license shall be issued unless it is certified that the original license was lost or destroyed, or that there has been a change of address. In the latter case, the original license shall be returned. Every licensee who has paid the fees or submitted the information required for renewal after the first of December of each year shall be subject to the imposition of an administrative fine as provided by this chapter.
(4) Any licensee may establish branches or offices with the Commissioner’s approval. The Commissioner, after the procedure established by law shall issue the license to the licensee, which shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the branch or office.
History —June 19, 1964, No. 68, p. 192, § 301; Feb. 24, 1967, No. 3, p. 150; Aug. 17, 1989, No. 69, p. 301, § 4; Dec. 23, 1998, No. 310, § 13, eff. 60 days after Dec. 23, 1998.