Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy as Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul who licensed his name to the property, makes a bid for the White House, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

More than 300 participants ranging from institutional investors to hedge funds to bond insurers are scheduled to attend today’s presentation in New York explaining why Puerto Rico cannot repay all of its obligations on time, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Complicating matters is a push by commonwealth officials to seek federal assistance and even changes in bankruptcy laws.

A generous series of tax breaks enacted by Congress shielded the profits of U.S. corporations operating in Puerto Rico and helped transform the territory from a largely agrarian society to a manufacturing powerhouse, the Washington Post reported today. But what the federal government gave, it also took away.

Leading House Republicans declared their opposition yesterday to allowing debt-ridden Puerto Rico access to chapter 9 bankruptcy protections, raising new uncertainty about how the island can emerge from its financial crisis, the Associated Press reported yesterday.