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) › § 2010 - Commissioner—Powers

(a) The Commissioner, in addition to the powers and faculties transferred hereby, shall have the power and authority to:
(1) Regulate his own procedures and working standards.
(2) Implement any provision through regulations; define with the Board’s approval any term which is not defined by this or other laws which he is responsible for administering; adopt, approve, amend or revoke such rules and regulations, orders, resolutions and determinations needed to comply with this chapter.
Before approving any of the regulations provided in this or any other laws under his administration and jurisdiction, which are not those for the internal operation of his Office, the Commissioner shall submit them to the Financing Board for their recommendation.
(3) Handle, investigate and resolve the complaints presented to the Board or to the Commissioner’s Office.
(4) File any legal remedies, actions or procedures necessary or convenient for the implementation of the purposes of this or any other act or regulation whose compliance or supervision has been assigned to him/her, be it with through [sic] his/her legal representatives or by the Secretary of Justice, upon previous request for such purposes.
The Commissioner shall also designate an official of the Office of the Commissioner to give support and advise the prosecutor of the Department of Justice who has the task of prosecuting a criminal procedure for a violation of the laws, regulations or orders under the administration of the Office of the Commissioner.
(5) Enter into contracts or agreements with persons or public or private institutions to perform investigations, studies or any other analysis to implement the purposes of this chapter.
(6) Require any person that is covered by the provisions of this chapter, to keep and maintain such records and other documents that are needed to implement it.
(7) Inspect all kinds of records and documents of any person who habitually or sporadically grants loans, when he deems it is in the best public interest.
(8) Perform such acts as are needed for the effective achievement of the purposes of this chapter.
(9) Impose administrative fines for violations of the laws he administers, or the rules, regulations and orders approved or prescribed by him, as indicated in § 2020 of this title.
(10)
(A) When any of the laws and regulations he administers does not provide otherwise, to issue, after due notice and hearing, cease and desist orders, and prescribe the terms he determines are for the benefit of the public. When in the Commissioner’s opinion said violation causes or could cause immediate grave damage to industry, the citizenry or specific persons, he may issue said order of a summary nature, passing over the requirement of due notice and hearing, until the final disposition of any procedure instituted under this section. In issuing said order, the Commissioner shall promptly serve notice, as specified below, that it has been issued, and the reasons for it, and that within fifteen (15) days, counting from the receipt of a written petition the matter shall be docketed for a hearing. If no petition for a hearing is received and the Commissioner does not order it, the order shall continue in effect until it is modified or rendered ineffective by the Commissioner. If the holding of a hearing is requested or ordered, the Commissioner, after due notice thereof and allowing each person as specified below to be heard, may serve notice or render the order ineffective, or postpone it until the matter is finally disposed of.
(B) The Commissioner may render ineffective or modify an order if he finds that the conditions that induced him to issue it have changed, or that it is in the public interest to do so for any other reason.
(11) Resort to the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico to request that any cease or desist order issued by him is put into effect.
(12)
(A) Perform all kinds of studies and investigations on matters that affect any branch of the banking, financial and securities industry for which he may require the necessary, pertinent and essential information to achieve said purposes; may require or allow any person to present a written statement, under oath or in any other manner as the Commissioner may determine, with regard to the facts and circumstances concerning the matter that is to be studied or investigated.
(B) Take oaths and statements, call witnesses, compel their attendance, hear evidence and require the submission of books, papers, correspondence, notes, agreements, or other documents or registers that the Commissioner may consider as relevant and substantial to the investigation.
(C) In case of contempt of court or refusal to obey a summons issued to any person, the Court of First Instance by petition of the Commissioner may issue an order requiring the person to appear before the Commissioner or the official designated by him, to produce documentary evidence, or to furnish evidence in connection with the matter in dispute or under investigation or study. Noncompliance of the court’s order may be sanctioned by it as contempt of court. The Court of First Instance shall give preference to the course and dispatch of the Commissioner’s petition.
(D) When a person claims that complying with a summons or answering any dispute, investigation or study, or alleges that the evidence required could expose him to an administrative proceeding or could lead to his removal or suspension from his employment, profession or occupation, the Commissioner shall guarantee that the information to be furnished shall not be used against him in any administrative procedure of any nature that could bring about the dismissal or suspension from his employment, profession or occupation. When the claim is that the information to be furnished exposes a person to a criminal or civil procedure, the Commissioner may arrange with the Secretary of Justice to grant civil or criminal immunity when his investigation requires the person to answer the questions or turn over the evidence required by the Commissioner. Once administrative immunity has been granted by the Commissioner or civil or criminal immunity has been granted by the Secretary of Justice, the person cannot refuse to comply with the Commissioner’s summons, or refuse to answer any question in connection with any controversy, investigation or study by the Commissioner, or refuse to turn over the evidence required.
(E) No order may be issued under any part of this section, except for the second sentence of clause (10)(A) of this subsection, unless:
(i) Proper prior notice is served on the corresponding persons in their place of business, or where they are located personally, or by certified mail at their last known address;
(ii) the interested parties are given the opportunity to be heard, and
(iii) the findings of fact and conclusions of law are stated in writing.
(13) Appoint all personnel needed to carry out his designated functions.
(14) The Commissioner is hereby authorized to establish through regulations, those charges he/she deems are reasonable for producing advice, issuing opinions or administrative determinations, granting permits authorized by law or regulations, or for the rendering of any other similar services with regard to any of the laws and regulations that he/she administers or are under his/her jurisdiction.
(15)
(A) Grant contracts or cooperative agreements with other jurisdictions to, among other things, perform joint examinations and share confidential information compiled in said financial institution’s examinations, notwithstanding the provisions of § 2020(d) of this title; coordinate and share information with any other supervisory agencies of financial institutions of any other jurisdiction, or any organization affiliated to or representing one or more supervisory agencies of financial institutions.
(B) Before revealing any confidential information under the provisions of paragraph (A) of this clause, the Commissioner shall obtain the assurance of said supervisory agency to maintain the confidentiality of such information to the extent possible under this or any other applicable act.
(16) Accept, in his/her full discretion, any examination report or investigation report from any other supervisory agency of financial institutions of any other jurisdiction, with concurrent jurisdiction over a financial institution organized or doing business in Puerto Rico, in lieu of the examination or investigation of said financial institution by the Commissioner him/herself.
(17) Participate in joint examinations or investigations with any other supervisory agency with concurrent jurisdiction over any financial institution of Puerto Rico. Provided, however, That the Commissioner may take any of these actions independently, if he/she determines that such action is necessary or proper to execute his/her responsibilities under this chapter and to ensure compliance of the laws of Puerto Rico.
(18) Grant contracts or agreements to obtain the services of examiners or to share examiners with other regulators of financial institutions. Said contracts shall be exempted from the bidding requirements, if applicable; and
(19)
(A) Impose the examination and supervisory fees pertinent to the performance of the duties of the Commissioner under this chapter, which shall be paid by the financial institutions organized of doing business in Puerto Rico, pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Commissioner to such effects, which shall be covered into the Fund for the Investigation and Examination of Financial Institutions and gaming casinos.
(B) Said fees may be shared with other supervisory agencies of financial institutions or with other organizations affiliated to or representing one or more supervisory agencies, pursuant to the agreements granted between these and the Commissioner.
(20) The Commissioner is hereby authorized to established through regulations the necessary provisions to comply with the duty to inspect and supervise the businesses carried out by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employees Association, under his/her jurisdiction.
(b) If as a result of an audit, examination or inspection, or of a report submitted by an examiner, it is shown that a financial institution lacks a solid financial and economic status or that it is operated or administered in such a way that the general public or persons and entities that have funds or shares in its custody are in danger of being defrauded, and in absence of a specific provision in the law to regulate the financial institution in question and which likewise empowers it, the Commissioner may assume the direction and administration of the financial institution, and promptly appoint a trustee who, in the case of insured financial institutions can be its insuring entity. The Commissioner shall hold a hearing before issuing an order to place a financial institution under his/her direction, or that of a trustee. Nevertheless, the Commissioner may issue a provisional order appointing a receiver without having to hold a hearing, when in his/her judgment, the financial institution’s status is of such a nature that it is causing or may cause irreparable damage to its interests, or those of the persons and entities with funds or assets in the institution. When the Commissioner issues a provisional order to appoint a receiver, he/she shall notify the Governor of the details and grounds for his/her determination and shall hold an administrative hearing within ten (10) days following the date of notice thereof, in order to determine if it is made permanent or revoked. The receiver thus appointed shall administer the financial institution pursuant to the provisions of the law and the regulations that govern said institution, and in accordance with the regulations that govern said institution, and in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Commissioner for receiverships or emergency measures declared under this section.
Said receivership shall terminate upon the total liquidation of the financial institution, if it were necessary, or when the operations thereof, as certified by the trustee in the Commissioner’s judgment, allow the return of the administration of the institution to the duly elected and appointed officers and officials, under the circumstances stipulated by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall fix a reasonable compensation for the services rendered by the receiver and his/her employees. The determination of the Commissioner to assume the administration and direction of a financial institution or to appoint a receiver, can be reviewed by the Circuit Court of Appeals, through a petition filed within the term of ten (10) days from the date of the determination.
History —Oct. 11, 1985, No. 4, p. 857, § 10; Aug. 28, 1991, No. 76, § 3; Mar. 24, 1996, No. 18, § 1, 2; Aug. 11, 1996, No. 123, § 4; Oct. 23, 1999, No. 319, § 5; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 333, § 1; Feb. 8, 2003, No. 74, § 8.