Section 56
SEC. 56. Section one hundred nine of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 109. Interest rates, commissions and charges. — The Monetary Board may fix the maximum rates of interest, expressed as simple annual rates, which banks may pay on deposits, on deposit substitutes and on other obligations. The Monetary Board may provide interest rate differentials on the basis of maturity and size of deposits, deposit substitutes and other obligations of banks. The Monetary Board may eliminate interest rate ceilings for deposits, deposit substitutes, and other obligations of banks above a specified amount, or exempt from interest rate ceilings deposits, deposit substitutes, and other obligations with remaining maturities of two years or more. "The Monetary Board may, at its discretion, fix the maximum rates of interest, expressed as simple annual rates, which other financial institutions may pay on deposit substitutes; and/or may provide interest rate differential oil the basis of maturity and size of deposit substitutes above a specified amount; and/or exempt from interest rate ceilings deposit substitutes with remaining maturities of two years or more. "The Monetary Board may, within the limits prescribed in the Usury Law (Act No. 2655, as amended), fix the maximum rates of interest which banks may charge For different types of loans and for any other credit operations, or may fix the maximum differences which may exist between the interest or rediscount rates of the Central Bank and the rates which the banks may charge their customers if the respective credit documents are not to lose their eligibility for rediscount or advances in the Central Bank. "Any modifications in the maximum interest rates permitted for the borrowing or lending operations of the banks shall apply only to future operations and not to those made prior to the date on which the modification becomes effective. "In order to avoid possible evasion of maximum interest rates set by the Monetary Board, the Board may also fix the maximum rates that banks may pay to or collect from their customers in the form of commissions, discounts, charges, fees or payments of any sort."