OCIF issues a cease and desist order against Euro Pacific Bank

The Financial Institutions Commissioner’s Office (OCIF) Issue a cease-and-desist order against Euro Pacific International Bank (EPB) for alleged violations of Puerto Rico’s regional financial center law and, in an emergency move, has also appointed a trustee to take over the International Financial Entity (EFI), the bureau said at a press conference.

Financial Institutions Commissioner, Natalia Zequera Diaz, reported the corrective action this afternoon with officials from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Australian Tax Office and UK Customs.

Corrective action comes only weeks later new day He noted that the Office for the Coordination of International Trade Operations had issued remedial action against five other entities that the agency supervised and that Zequera Diaz had indicated that it was taking measures to actively supervise this appropriate place in Puerto Rico’s financial system.

Although a cease and desist order is the most stringent corrective measure the OCIF can apply, Law 273 of 2012 provides remedies for administrative review of the regulator’s decisions.

EPB is an international financial institution that obtained its license from the OCIF on February 9, 2017. However, the financial institution commenced operations for the year 2011 after registering as a banking entity in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Its main shareholder and chairman is Peter De Schiff, a famous American economist and financier who owns several international financial and investment advisory firms.

Although the organization is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, EFI only provides services to both individual and corporate international clients. IFE claims to assist its clients with transactions that require currency exchange, wire transfers, payments, and investments in mutual funds and precious metals.

According to enterprise data, by 2019, EPB will have approximately 15,000 customers worldwide who have agreements and business relationships, or provide or receive services from other Schiff-owned entities, as well as third parties and operate from the British Virgin Islands. (British Virgin Islands), United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Saint Vincent and others. In its submissions, the institution asserts that it has established “key policies to mitigate the risks of operating an international bank”.