Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

The Trump administration requested $12.77 billion in initial funding to help Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Top-rated municipals ended mixed on Thursday, according to traders, who spent much of the day looking at Puerto Rico debt, which was recovering from sharp losses the previous day.

Puerto Rico’s debt cannot be canceled by order of the president, restructuring experts and a key congressman said.

Puerto Rico bonds plunged on Wednesday after President Donald Trump suggested the commonwealth’s debt needed to be “wiped out” to help the island recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico bonds took a big hit on Wednesday after President Donald Trump suggested the commonwealth’s debt needed to be “wiped out” to help the island recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico’s general obligation bonds maturing in 2035 have lost a fifth of their value in secondary trading on concern over the economic impact of the storm.

The board says it will postpone any discussion of furloughs until the next fiscal year.

Two key Puerto Rico Oversight Board members met with members of Congress Thursday and Friday.

Puerto Rico's power authority said it may take more than six months to restore electricity and there was a report that the Oversight Board was ready to revise the amount of debt to be paid in the next nine years.

Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico is a credit negative for Assured Guaranty and National Public Finance Guarantee Corp., Moody’s Investors Service said.

The board approved the reallocation of $1 billion for emergency funding to recover from Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico Oversight Board executive director Natalie Jaresko told The Bond Buyer the commonwealth might also pay some of its debt later this year.

The increase in median income may be connected to emigration from the island.

Kobre & Kim will assist in the board's investigation of Puerto Rico’s debt.

One lawyer called the bankruptcy judge’s ruling a "victory in the Oversight Board's effort to destroy all bondholder liens in Puerto Rico."

Puerto Rico government representatives told the Title III bankruptcy judge that sales and use tax revenues used for paying Puerto Rico Sales Tax Corp. (COFINA) bonds belong to the commonwealth.

Lower-rated issuers like Puerto Rico have been slower to rebound from past natural disasters, municipal analysts said.

A U.S. district court on Tuesday rejected that bond insurer Ambac Financial was liable for allegedly overly optimistic and misleading statements it had made about its insured Puerto Rico bonds.

Puerto Rico Title III bankruptcy judge Laura Taylor Swain has decided to address the dispute between Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. bondholders prior to other Title III matters.

Activists protested what they called Aurelius Capital Management’s support for austerity in Puerto Rico.