English

Opportunity Zones Act in Puerto Rico questioned and pending regulation

por Joel Cintrón Arbasetti | 21 de diciembre 2019

The tax exemptions that the government of Puerto Rico intends to extend to investors through the Opportunity Zones Act “may not comply” with the Fiscal Plan. Tax credits of up to 25% and exemptions in the payment of municipal taxes were some of the red flags raised by the Fiscal Control Board as a “cause for concern.”

“There are provisions of the law that apparently make it inconsistent with the government’s Fiscal Plan… The municipal exemption provision could be burdensome to the municipalities,” Fiscal Control Board Spokesman Edward Zayas told the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI, in Spanish). Former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló signed the Opportunity Zones Act on May 14 but it has not been enforced because it still lacks a regulation for its implementation. Although so far this law is practically null, in August the government approved a list of commercial activities that could be recognized as Priority Projects in Opportunity Zones.

English

Feds Investigate Businessman Managing Government Agency Investments

por Joel Cintrón Arbasetti | 23 de septiembre 2019

Puerto Rico “is the place to invest in right now, because inefficiency breeds the biggest opportunities,” says Michael Scott Williams King, founder of financial firms Kinetic Funds and Kinetic International. A native of Michigan, he arrived on the Island five years ago attracted by the incentives the government offered investors. He benefits from Law 20 on the export of services and Law 22 for the transfer of foreign investors to Puerto Rico. Since 2016, he has managed $18 million in public funds from the State Insurance Fund Corporation (CFSE, in Spanish) and the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration (ACAA, for its initials in Spanish) through Kinetic Funds. Williams organized an investor summit from Feb.

English

The “I won’t allow it” generation demands Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation

por Joel Cintrón Arbasetti | 31 de julio 2019

Genesis, Zorimar and Rafael were talking on Cristo Street before darting off towards the San Sebastián Street. They were fleeing from a stampede that was unleashed in Old San Juan after the Puerto Rico police launched tear gas. “This is disrespectful, the government is behaving like a dictatorship,” shouted Rafael Figueroa as he ran up the street. He’s 18, an economics student at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Mayagüez campus, and traveled to Old San Juan to demand Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation. Genesis Suriel, 19, studies biology at the UPR in Ponce, as does her friend her friend Zorimar Rodríguez, 20.