P.R. Opposition Leader Says Board's Financial Disclosures May Require Resignations

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The president of Puerto Rico's main opposition party said financial disclosures reported in The Bond Buyer may disqualify some members of the federal Oversight Board and staff.

Héctor Ferrer, who leads the Popular Democratic Party, called for Oversight Board President José Carri-n, interim executive director Ram-n Ruiz, and Board Member Carlos García to respond to the issues brought up in article published by The Bond Buyer online on Monday evening.

The story reported that Ruiz owned at least $265,002 in Puerto Rico bonds and debt. It quoted observers including a lawyer who said such bond holdings would be inappropriate and against the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act. The act set up the board to oversee Puerto Rico's fiscal decisions and restructuring of nearly $70 billion of debt.

The article also said that Carri-n didn't declare the value of any of his 223 assets, despite federal laws that may require him to do so. The story also said that Carri-n, García, and board member David Skeel didn't divulge their principal incomes last year, even though federal laws require such disclosures.

"All of them must explain in detail the publicly disclosed charges," Ferrer said at a Tuesday news conference. "If they are true, they indicate a lack of transparency, and would disqualify them as members of the fiscal control board."

Ferrer added that the article wasn't the first time that questions about the board's members had arisen.

"From the time of García's designation last year, there were voices that rose concerning a possible conflict of interest," Ferrer said. "For example, it is public knowledge that when García served as president of the Government Development Bank [from 2009 to 2011], he had a large responsibility for the government's issuance of debt. It is also widely known that he changed the structure of COFINA [the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp.] in a way that raised the public debt in just two years."

Ferrer said that García approved faulty public corporation debt issues.

With the PDP's leaders in the Puerto Rico Senate and House standing by his side, Ferrer said: "Today I make a public call for all of them to express themselves and be accountable to the country in a transparent way in order to clarify the details."

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