P.R. Laws tit. 7, § 3026
(a) Application, fees, evaluation, and issuance of license.— Every trust, corporation, or partnership interested in operating as a capital investment fund shall file an application before the Commissioner in which it shall provide the information required by the Commissioner. Together with said application the interested party shall pay those fees established by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall evaluate the applications thus filed, and upon determining that the interested party meets all the requirements established in this chapter and the regulations promulgated thereunder, shall proceed to issue the license requested. The Commissioner shall establish everything related to the applications, fees, evaluation, and issuance of licenses, by regulations.
(b) Effectiveness of licenses.— Licenses or authorizations issued by the Commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be in effect for a term of ten (10) years from the date of issue. No licenses or authorizations shall be issued under this section after December 31 st , 2018.
However, licenses issued prior to such date may be renewed for an additional term and subject to the conditions prescribed by the Commissioner through regulations. The Commissioner shall make a prior evaluation of the operations and performance of each Fund requesting said renewal, in every license renewal case.
(c) Issue of proprietary interests.— The shares of the funds created under this chapter shall be deemed to be securities that are subject to the provisions of §§ 851 et seq. of Title 10, known as the “Uniform Securities Act of Puerto Rico”. Each fund shall pay the fees established in the case of capital investment funds in subsection (b) of § 875 of Title 10 for the [issuance] of proprietary interests.
(d) Maximum sum of private proprietary interests and bank proprietary interests.— The maximum sum of private proprietary interests that shall be authorized by the Commissioner during each year shall be fifty million dollars ($50,000,000). The Bank shall not have a minimum investment requirement in a fund.
(e) Unused balance of maximum amount.— If the Commissioner does not authorize the issue of private proprietary interests for the maximum amount provided in subsection (d) of this section in a specific calendar year, the existing balance at the end of said calendar year may be carried over and used by the Commissioner to authorize the issue of private proprietary interests by other capital investment funds in the next calendar year, once the maximum amount provided in subsection (d) of this section for said subsequent year has been depleted. If the total sum thus carried over is not used, the Commissioner shall not dispose of the unused balance in subsequent years.
(f) Audits or examinations of the funds.— To determine the accuracy of any information furnished in the reports filed by the fund, or in order to ensure that the fund is making the investments for which it was authorized, the Commissioner may, through any of his/her officials agents or employees, perform annual audits, or examinations and examine any books, papers or documents that are pertinent to the information that must be included in the reports, or that are related to the operations of the fund in general. The Commissioner shall collect those auditing fees established by regulations. The business in which the fund invests shall furnish the information required by the Commissioner or his/her representatives in order to execute the responsibilities imposed by this chapter.
(g) Duties of the Commissioner, Certificate of Compliance.— In the evaluation, analysis, consideration, award, renegotiation, and revision of any incentives or benefits granted under this chapter, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions shall be required to oversee and ensure compliance with all the provisions of this chapter. The Commissioner shall be the official responsible for verifying and ensuring that the Funds and their Associates meet the eligibility requirements established in this chapter.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall be required and responsible for preparing a Certificate of Compliance every two years, once the exempt persons validate, in the judgment of said official, that they have met the requirements of this section. Every two years, the Secretary of Agriculture shall verify the information submitted by exempt persons so that the Certificate of Compliance is issued not later than on the fifteenth (15th) day of the second (2nd) month after the close of the taxable year of the applicant.
The Certificate of Compliance shall include, in turn, the following information regarding the Fund: the name of the Fund, the cadastre number of the property or properties connected to the Fund; the merchant registration number; the account connected to the Fund as required in the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code; the employer identification number; and the information required by §§ 1141 et seq. of Title 23, better known as the “Fiscal Information and Permit Control Act”, as applicable.
The Certificate of Compliance shall be issued by the Commissioner through the Interagency Validation Portal for the Granting of Incentives for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico, to the agencies, public corporations, and municipalities responsible for awarding benefits or incentives under this chapter. However, during the period in which the Portal is still not operating, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to issue a Certificate of Compliance to the agencies, public corporations, and municipalities responsible for awarding the benefits or incentives under this chapter following the ordinary procedure. The filing of the Certificate of Compliance by the Fund shall be an essential requirement for the agency, public corporation, or municipality to grant the benefit or incentive provided for in this chapter.
Actions taken by the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM), or any other government official or body, or public corporation concerned, in connection with the qualification process for the granting of the benefits or incentives under this chapter, shall be limited to the taxation aspects of the granting of the benefit or incentive in question, upon the issuance of a valid Certificate of Compliance, as provided in this section. The Commissioner shall be responsible, first and foremost, for overseeing eligibility under any and all provisions of this chapter. However, the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM), or any other government official or body, or public corporation concerned with any of the benefits or incentives granted under this chapter may contact the applicant and the Commissioner should further information be needed to validate the data on the Certificate of Compliance, and shall notify and request the applicant to supply such information in order to rectify the situation. The Secretary of the Department of the Treasury or the Executive Director of the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (CRIM) may deny any tax incentives or benefits requested if, in their judgment, the information requested has not been supplied. Moreover, the provisions of this chapter shall not preclude in any manner the power conferred to the Secretary of the Treasury under § 33202 of Title 13, known as the “Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011”; and, if necessary, the power to revoke any incentives previously granted by virtue of a Certificate of Compliance, in accordance with the corresponding act; or the power to refer the case to the pertinent agency or public corporation for the corresponding action.
History —Jan. 28, 2000, No. 46, § 7; Nov. 17, 2015, No. 187, § 63; Dec. 28, 2016, No. 208, § 17.