Puerto Rico

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.

Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in Congress met with credit rating agencies and investment bankers in New York last weekend, seeking to assure them of Puerto Rico's economic future.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico's long-term issuer credit rating to BB-minus from BB.

As the legal fight over Puerto Rico's Recovery Act heats up, Argentina and Arkansas provide roadmaps to what may lie ahead.

Puerto Rico's fiscal year 2014 deficit came in 4.5% lower than budgeted at the start of the year.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's recent draw on its debt reserve account is a danger sign for its bond-holders, analysts say.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority said Thursday that its trustee had made an unscheduled withdrawal of $41.6 million from the debt service reserve.

Fitch Ratings drew objections from Puerto Rico's government and mixed opinions from analysts for downgrading a wide array of the island's bonds.

Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi is exploring whether Congress might be willing to amend the federal bankruptcy code to allow government-owned corporations in Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy.

Financial guarantors that insure $15 billion of Puerto Rico bonds have taken a drubbing in the stock market as the island's debt restructuring law triggered a series of credit downgrades.

Standard & Poor's senior Puerto Rico analyst said S&P's rating of Puerto Rico's sales tax back bonds may drop more notches in the near future than those of the general obligation bonds.