The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico—in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras'' (OCIF)—is an

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

of the

Department of Treasury of Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Department of Treasury () is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico responsible for the treasury of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is one of the constitutionally-created executive departments and is h ...

that supervises and regulates Puerto Rico's financial sector to ensure its safety and

soundness In logic and deductive reasoning, an argument is sound if it is both Validity (logic), valid in form and has no false premises. Soundness has a related meaning in mathematical logic, wherein a Formal system, formal system of logic is sound if and o ...

, as well as to oversee a strict adherence to all applicable laws and regulations. The OCIF as a regulatory body is similar in function to the State Banking Departments found in the 50 states. However, Puerto Rico being a commonwealth territory, its functions and legal enforcement are more broad as it is empowered to issue banking licenses under Puerto Rico law which are not under direct federal supervision, such as International Banking Entities and International Finance Entities. The OCIF follows examination guidance issued by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles for the examination of financial institutions in the U.S., including institutions regulated by the

Federal Reserve Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mo ...

and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Ángel Luis Rosas Collazo Ángel Luis Rosas Collazo (Born June 21, 1934 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a businessman and first commissioner of Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and first Dean of the UPRM College of Business Administration. He ...

served as its first commissioner.

Loss of Accreditation

The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF, in Spanish) lost its accreditation with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), an entity that monitors the procedures and operations of state agencies that regulate financial institutions in the United States, the CSBS confirmed to the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI, in Spanish). The loss of accreditation by the OCIF is a matter of concern and should not be taken lightly, especially in a country like Puerto Rico where there is a lack of commitment to oversight, accountability and transparency in the decisions and operations of government agencies and entities. This is stated in a communication from the Organization Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico (ALPR), in view of the decision of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) to suspend the accreditation of the regulator of banking and financial institutions in Puerto Rico. This entity is in charge of evaluating the procedures and operations of the agencies that regulate financial and banking institutions in the United States. The loss of OCIF's accreditation was made public through a report by the Investigative Press Center.

References

External links

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OCIF Reporting Software
Government of Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-stub