Puerto Rico Employees Retirement System

Moody's has downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation bonds to Ca from Caa3, due to the protracted economic and revenue disruptions caused by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico faces a government shutdown after the end of the month without an infusion of cash.

The bond insurers withdrew their challenge of the island's fiscal plan, citing Hurricane Maria.

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

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.

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

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."

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

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.

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board filed an adversary complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief to force cost-saving measures.

Title III bankruptcy judge Laura Taylor Swain approved hiring Phoenix Management Services LLC as financial advisor for the mediation process.

The Oversight Board has asked the bankruptcy judge to approve compensation for a team led by Martha Kopacz, who served in a similar role in Detroit's bankruptcy.

The Puerto Rico Title III judge signaled she may reject a motion that would open the door to bondholders taking over the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board announced it was planning an investigation of the island’s public sector debt.