Puerto Rico’s cooperative sector announced record financial strength at the 43rd Annual Informational Assembly of the Public Corporation for the Supervision and Insurance of Cooperatives (COSSEC), holding more than $12.664 billion in assets and serving about 1.16 million members. That is an increase of $1.2 billion in assets and 51,000 members since 2022, even as the number of cooperatives fell from 107 to 91, partly through mergers.
Laws signed by Governor Jenniffer González Colón include Act 16-2026, authorizing commercial credit cards and credit lines; Act 49-2026, requiring three-member supervisory committees; and Act 71-2026, raising the minimum capital to start a cooperative from $50,000 to $150,000. COSSEC reported a record financial strength ratio of 2.98% and net assets of $305 million, and expects to distribute more than $3.6 million in earnings.
The sector also received $9.8 million from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund, with $8.8 million going to 10 cooperatives and $700,000 to six for small loans to people with no or damaged credit. Five cooperatives joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, and CDCOOP announced two housing cooperatives expected to add more than 4,000 affordable homes.