Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and its creditors agreed Tuesday to extend deadlines in their Restructuring Support Agreement to Dec. 17.

The passed deadline casts doubt on the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s prospects for a consensual debt restructuring agreement.

The Supreme Court has agreed to take up Puerto Rico's appeal of a lower court ruling that the commonwealth's local restructuring law is not allowable under federal bankruptcy law.

The FBI arrested 10 Puerto Rico officials and businessmen in a corruption probe, dealing a blow to the government as it looks to resolve its financial crisis.

Puerto Rico general obligation debt (CC/Negative) continues to remain highly vulnerable to default, in Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' view, despite payment in full by the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) of $354 million in scheduled debt service on Dec. 1, including $267 million of GDB note principal guaranteed by Puerto Rico, and the governor's release of an executive order that diverts revenue, which would otherwise support about $7 billion of non-GO debt issued by certain public corporations, to the payment of GO debt service.

Puerto Rico’s economic activity index rose 0.2% in October from September and 1% from October 2014.

Municipal investors said Puerto Rico’s $355 million Government Development Bank note payment and claw-back debt management plan did little to resolve the island’s debt crisis.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said the ratings on the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB; CC/Negative/C) are unchanged, but continue to reflect the company's weak debt service prospects.

Puerto Rico signaled it’s giving some debts priority over others, as it began clawing back revenue from certain non-general obligation bonds while avoiding default on $355 million of Government Development Bank notes.

Puerto Rico announced late this morning that it had paid all $354 million in debt service due today on Government Development Bank notes.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla, who will soon decide whether the commonwealth will default on a debt service payment, and Pedro Pierluisi, the territory's representative in Congress, will headline a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday to address the commonwealth's fiscal and debt crisis, as well as possible fixes.

Puerto Rico’s government, after fanning concerns that it won’t be able to make bond payments due in December, said it plans to pay Christmas bonuses this year.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla announced Friday that he was replacing his chief of staff.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics released a mixed employment report for Puerto Rico on Friday.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has corrected by lowering its underlying rating on Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority's transportation revenue bonds (series D) with CUSIPs 745190J41 and 745190J58 to CC from BBB.

Puerto Rico officials said they would present the structure of a proposed comprehensive debt exchange to various creditors Friday.

The next few weeks will be perilous for Puerto Rico, several economists and policy experts told The Bond Buyer, though they disagreed about the actions the commonwealth should take.

New Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said on Wednesday that he plans to solicit the views of House members on tax reform over the next few months.

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White on Wednesday declined to take a position on a bill that would increase hedge fund reporting in the wake of fund purchases of Puerto Rico’s debt, saying it has both pros and cons..

Puerto Rico's congressional representative Pedro Pierluisi strongly opposed the idea of the federal government imposing a federal fiscal control board on Puerto Rico, warning it would be "a blatant exercise of colonialism."