P.R. Laws tit. 7, § 1334p
The Corporation shall have the obligation to conduct an audit or an examination of any cooperative that requests to avail itself of shares and deposits insurance. It may also conduct regular examinations or audits of the insured cooperatives and conduct special examinations or audits when, in its judgment, it is necessary to determine the condition of said cooperatives for purposes of the shares and deposits insurance or when the financial indicators of an insured cooperative suggest that it is at risk of insolvency.
The auditors or examiners of the Corporation shall be empowered to examine all matters as they may deem pertinent and submit to the Corporation a complete and detailed report of the condition of the insured cooperative. These examinations or audits may be conducted in coordination with the provisions of Act §§ 1361 et seq. of this title. The examinations or audits required by this section shall not be substituted by reports made by independent auditors that are ordered and contracted by the cooperative.
Likewise, the Corporation may investigate and examine all claims related to the insured accounts of the members of the cooperatives. To such ends, it shall designate claims agents who shall be empowered to summon witnesses and compel them to appear before them, take statements and administer oaths, receive and examine any books, records, files, and documents related to insured accounts and require the furnishing of testimony or the production of documents. The summons issued by the claims agents shall be signed by them and shall bear the seal of the Corporation, and may be served by any method that is safe and reliable in any part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, such as delivery in person, by mail or by publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Should a person refuse to comply with a summons issued by a claims agent requiring his/her appearance to testify or to present a document related to a matter under his/her investigation, he/she may, through consultation with the Secretary of Justice, request the aid of the Superior Part of the Court of First Instance of the place where the main office of the insured cooperative in question is located, or where the witness in question resides or does business, and the court may order, under admonition of contempt, the said person to appear to testify or to present the required documents.
The examiners designated by the Corporation to investigate or audit the insured cooperatives shall also have the same powers as the claims agents to summon witnesses and compel them to appear before them, take oaths and require the presentation of any books, files, records or documents related to the matters under their investigation and examination. They may likewise request, upon consultation with the Secretary of Justice, the aid of the Superior Part of the Court of First Instance of the place where the main office of the insured cooperative is located, or where the witness resides or does business, when the latter refuses to appear or present the required documents, to compel said appearance, the testimony of the witness, or the presentation of documents.
The Corporation may require and use any report made by or for any agency, commission, board or authority empowered to supervise insured cooperatives for its legal ends and purposes.
The Corporation may exercise the examining functions described in this section with regard to cooperatives other than cooperative savings and credit unions, recognizing the difference in the extent and scope as to oversight for non-financial cooperative enterprises. To this end, the Corporation shall draft an integrative regulation directed at implementing proper measures for non-financial cooperatives. Such regulation and any subsequent amendments thereto shall be consistent with the public policy made from time to time by the Governing Board of the Commission and be subject to the powers and authority of the Cooperative Development Commissioner.
History —Aug. 17, 2001, No. 114, § 18; Aug. 10, 2008, No. 247, § 24, eff. Feb. 1, 2009.