Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Senate was expected to vote Wednesday on energy legislation that Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders have said is necessary for them to agree to a bond restructuring.

Rep. Sean Duffy said on Wednesday that final legislation to help Puerto Rico is still taking shape but will include “secret sauce” in the form of a combination of debt restructuring and financial oversight and “sugar and spice” through bipartisan steps to incentivize investment on the island.

Senate Finance Committee chair Orrin Hatch on Wednesday demanded Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla provide detailed financial information by March 1 and said he wants to come up with a plan to help the commonwealth by the end of that month.

Puerto Rico's economic activity index declined by 0.6% in December from November.

There is a better way for bringing fiscal stability to Puerto Rico than a Federal control board, the Puerto Rico think tank Center for a New Economy said Monday.

A House committee will hear Treasury's Antonio Weiss discuss an analysis of Puerto Rico on Feb. 25, as lawmakers coalesce around a bill that would give the territory's authorities bankruptcy access in return for creation of a financial stability council.

Representatives for Puerto Rico on Friday said the cash-strapped commonwealth plans to pursue its recently proposed debt exchange with creditors holding tax-supported debt even if the territory eventually gets access to bankruptcy or some other type of restructuring process.

The Supreme Court has set March 22 as the date it will hear oral arguments on an appeal of a lower court ruling that a local Puerto Rico restructuring law is not allowed under federal bankruptcy law.

Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring proposal got a cold reception from analysts, with some saying it failed to even provide a starting point for negotiations.

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority is seeking a new public corporation to sell its bonds.