Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Public Corporations Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act, approved by the Puerto Rico legislature in late June, has had a notable impact on market activity and perceived credit quality for bonds of the commonwealth and its agencies.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority moved a step closer Thursday to opening an important natural gas port that would lower its operating costs.

Puerto Rico's net revenue was 6.3% ahead of projections in July.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla created a public transit authority to integrate oversight over various modes of transportation.

June was the first month in almost two years when all the private sector components of Puerto Rico's Economic Activity Index were positive year over year.

A rating boost affirms the ability of bond insurer Assured Guaranty to minimize its Puerto Rico exposure, according managing director John Hallacy.

The chances that the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its Government Development Bank (GDB) will not have the liquidity they are forecasting are significant and growing, says Moody's Investors Service.

The deadline for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to pay back its lines of credit to banks has been pushed back to Aug. 14.

The Federal Reserve of New York recommended Puerto Rico's government make six major changes in a report it issued Thursday.

Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's sole non-voting member of Congress, has introduced legislation that would allow the commonwealth's government to authorize certain government-owned corporations to enter Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has lowered its rating on Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's (PREPA) power revenue bonds two notches to CCC from B-minus.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bonds are trading at low prices compared with those other issuers that have drawn on their debt service reserves, as investors weigh risks that range from the island's public corporation debt restructuring act to political pressure to restrain power prices.

UBS is facing more than $600 million in damage claims filed by Puerto Rico investors in closed-end bond funds, the bank said in its second quarter earnings report Tuesday.

Many analysts see a default by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority as a probability, though they differ in how that would happen and what the impact of the default would be on other Puerto Rico credits.

Puerto Rico called for the dismissal of a suit challenging the commonwealth's newly passed public corporation restructuring law.

A new company is aiming to keep holders of Puerto Rico bonds informed about the court proceedings there.

Puerto Rico's unemployment rate plunged seven tenths of a percentage point in June from May, bringing the rate to the lowest level since October 2008. But the number employed is also down.

Puerto Rico officials are signaling that the power authority known as PREPA, with $8.7 billion of debt, is the most likely of the island's largest eligible public corporations to restructure its obligations under the commonwealth's new Recovery Act.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has announced Puerto Rico will prepare a plebiscite on its status, though the actual vote may not happen until mid-2016 or later.

The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico will host a webcast on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. EST to update investors on Puerto Rico's fiscal and economic plans.