Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

A proposed bill to give Puerto Rico's ailing public agencies a way to restructure debts under U.S. bankruptcy law is a "Wild West" solution that would likely hurt bondholders, an adviser for major investors argued in written testimony ahead of a key congressional committee, Reuters reported today.
Puerto Rico has asked a U.S. court for a quick decision in its appeal against a federal court ruling that voided a local bankruptcy law, arguing that the decision hampers its efforts to deal with a financial emergency that could disrupt basic public services on the Caribbean island, Reuters reported on Friday.
Moody’s Investors Service said that there’s a high probability that Puerto Rico will default on its general-obligation, sales-tax or Government Development Bank debt during the next two years, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.
Congressman Pedro Pierluisi yesterday reintroduced legislation that would empower the government of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico to authorize one or more of its government-owned corporations, if they were to become insolvent, to restructure their debts under chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, according to a press release.