Puerto Rico

Municipal Market Analytics professionals Monday said it was “quite reasonable” to expect that the Puerto Rico Public Finance Corp. will make its debt service payments on Aug. 1.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has lowered its CCC-minus rating on Puerto Rico Public Finance Corp. (PFC) series 2011A and B and series 2012 A bonds to CC following non-appropriation of debt service by the legislature in the fiscal 2016 budget.

Puerto Rico's longstanding and deepening fiscal challenges led most closed-end municipal bond funds (CEF) to reduce holdings of the debt of the commonwealth, protecting the majority of these funds from substantial negative effects, says Fitch Ratings.

The Senate Finance Committee is pressing Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for positions on Puerto Rico, including whether it supports giving the troubled territory the ability to allow its public entities to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 9.

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority is "optimistic" it can sell a bond by the end of August, raising money to repay a bank line and make capital improvements.

Puerto Rico's approved budget allocation for appropriation and GDB debt is 19% short of the amount requested by the governor.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority extended its contract with restructuring consulting firm AlixPartners to mid-November.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., unveiled a bill on Wednesday to allow Puerto Rican public entities to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Nebraska relies on Chapter 9 as a quick and easy way to restructure troubled special taxing district debt.

Puerto Rico’s attempt at a quick and consensual debt restructuring may quickly dissolve into legal chaos, analysts said.

Puerto Rican officials called for consensual restructuring of its debt with its creditors at a meeting Monday in midtown Manhattan.

Puerto Rico’s Monday meeting with its bondholders puts the commonwealth and its creditors on an unpredictable path of negotiation and litigation, if history is a guide.

A Puerto Rico diaspora group launched a project to help Puerto Rico’s economy Friday.

The House Judiciary Committee is unlikely to pass legislation that would give Puerto Rican public municipalities and utilities the ability to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, committee chair Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a Wednesday statement.

Puerto Rico plans to present its case for restructuring its debt in New York City on Monday.

Pressure is mounting for Congress to make Puerto Rico's public entities eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in the wake of an appeals court decision that found the territory's restructuring law illegal, and calls from top presidential candidates for congressional action.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla signed a bill that will allow the government the option of suspending general obligation bond set-asides early in the fiscal year.

Puerto Rico has indicated that September may be the start of the commonwealth government’s monetary defaults.

About 53% of open end mutual funds have exposure to some type of Puerto Rico debt, down from almost 70% in 2014, according to Morningstar Inc.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has signed a fiscal year 2016 General Fund budget for $9.8 billion.