Puerto Rico

The anticipated surplus for fiscal years 2019 through 2013 has dropped to $11.6 billion from $15.1 billion, leaving less money for debt service and capital spending.

The plan continues a cut to the pension system found in earlier versions.

New expectations for disaster funding, gross national product growth rates, and population may change projections of money for debt.

Assured Guaranty CEO Dominic Frederico said at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit that "the open disregard of law" among public officials in Puerto Rico "could give public officials elsewhere reasons to believe they could escape their obligations."

James Spiotto, Managing Director at Chapman Strategic Advisors, explains why he believes U.S. district court Judge Swain's decision on special revenue bonds was wrong, and the impact it may have on revenue bond issuance, at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit.

KBRA senior managing director William Cox, when discussing lessons learned from the Puerto Rico debt crisis at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit, noted that the behavior of management sends "strong signals regarding credit character," in this case "chronically late financial statements."

At the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit, Matt Fabian, partner and lead analyst at Municipal Market Analytics, noted that investors "would like to have more distinguishing between credits, but market realities limit their ability to do so."

Adam Bergonzi, Chief Risk Officer of National Public Finance Guarantee, said at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit that the event was created as a rebuttal to an "oft-heard sentiment" that the commonwealth's bankruptcy was an anomaly.

Critics pointed to the agreement's failure to lower operating costs and its "very favorable" treatment of Assured Guaranty.

The restructuring is expected to save PREPA and Puerto Rico residents about $3 billion in debt service payments over the next 10 years.

The board wants to recover more than $1 billion in payments and fees on bonds it deems illegal.

The governor accused the Oversight Board of having “overstepped its boundaries, making it an even more undemocratic entity.”

The suits against non-bond creditors are a step in an effort to claw bank money that will extend to bondholders.

Democratic representatives hailed the decision, which averts an interruption of the effort to restructure the island's debt.

Board says it it will sue those who held at least $2.5 million of the challenged bonds from May 2013 to May 2017.

The board says it will file law suits seeking to claw back funds from bondholders before the end of Thursday, May 2.

Judge Swain's ruling complicates the Puerto Rico Oversight Board's effort to recover payments on $6 billion of bonds that the board deems to have been illegally sold.

The Oversight Board in its fiscal plan had projected a 5.06% population drop after the 2017 hurricanes; the Census Bureau found a 3.9% decline.

They say that the Oversight Board has shown itself to be slow and obstructionist in attacking illegitimate bonds and prosecuting guilty parties.

January revenue beat the original budget projection by 36%, raising hopes that there will be more money to pay bondholders as the island's debt is restructured.