Mintz - Public Finance Viewpoints (JD Supra Puerto Rico)

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust puts an end to one of Puerto Rico’s multi-pronged efforts to deleverage itself. Given the comprehensiveness of the First Circuit’s intermediate appellate opinion upholding the district court’s invalidation of Puerto Rico’s Recovery Act, it was surprising that the highest court took the case,...

A draft of the U.S. Treasury’s proposed debt restructuring legislation began circulating earlier today. The draft legislation would give Puerto Rico, as well as other U.S. territories, and their municipalities access to U.S. bankruptcy court under a new chapter of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (so-called “Super Chapter 9”) as well as making Puerto Rico’s instrumentalities (but not Puerto Rico itself)

It is said that muddy water is best cleared by leaving it be. The Supreme Court’s December 4 decision to review the legality of Puerto Rico’s local bankruptcy law, the Recovery Act, despite a well-reasoned First Circuit Court of Appeals opinion affirming the U.S. District Court in San Juan’s decision voiding the Recovery Act on the grounds that it conflicts with Section 903 of the U.S....

Last week, the Working Group for the Fiscal and Economic Recovery of Puerto Rico gave the broadest hint yet of the next tactic in Puerto Rico’s ongoing quest to deleverage itself. Although the details have not yet been articulated, Puerto Rico apparently proposes to blend into a single pot several types of distinct taxes currently earmarked to pay or support different types of bonds issued by a...

A few reactions to today’s oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit regarding the validity of Puerto Rico’s Recovery Act...

At the end of “The Candidate”, Robert Redford’s title character, having won, famously asks, “What do we do now?” A similar question can be asked now that the federal district court in Puerto Rico has struck down the Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act. In a February 6, 2015 opinion, Judge Besosa rejected enough of Puerto Rico’s ripeness and standing...

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) yesterday filed separate motions to dismiss the federal court complaint filed last month by some PREPA bondholders seeking to invalidate the recently-enacted Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act. As anticipated, the motions to dismiss assert that the plaintiffs lack standing and the...

On Saturday, June 28, Puerto Rico’s Governor Padilla signed into effect Puerto Rico’s new bankruptcy law for certain revenue bond issuers. Within 24 hours of the statute’s enactment, two mutual fund complexes owning approximately $1.7 billion in bonds of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) filed a complaint in the federal district court for Puerto Rico, seeking a declaratory...

Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla today introduced debt restructuring legislation which, upon enactment, would provide a judicial debt relief process in Puerto Rico’s courts for certain public corporations, including the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (“PREPA”), the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (“PRASA”) and the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (“PR

The latest swerve in the rollercoaster that is Puerto Rico public finance occurred on April 11 with the release of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s ruling striking down as unconstitutional the bulk of the territory’s teacher pension reform legislation. The outcome of the case creates some disarray in the executive and legislative branches’ efforts to stabilize Puerto Rico’s finances, as well as...

Last Tuesday, Puerto Rico sold its much ballyhooed $3.5 billion in non-investment grade general obligation bonds. Two days later, two legislators in Puerto Rico’s Senate filed a bill which, if enacted, would permit insolvency filings by Puerto Rico’s public corporations in Puerto Rico’s territorial trial court. The juxtaposition of the two events has some bond investors crying foul.

Although Puerto Rico’s much-discussed sub-investment grade general obligation bond issue is not yet being marketed via an official preliminary official statement, it appears that a draft POS has been making the rounds. The draft POS, dated February 28, 2014, has been posted on at least one website and has been referenced in Bloomberg news reports.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal today and by other sources, the authorizing legislation for Puerto Rico’s much anticipated $3.5 billion non investment grade general obligation issue has become hung up in Puerto Rico’s Senate over language included in the bill passed by the territory’s House of Representatives that would authorize Puerto Rico’s Treasury secretary to agree that disputes over

We previously discussed the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s decision in the Hernandez case, in which by a 5-4 vote the court upheld the constitutionality under federal and Puerto Rico law of pension reform legislation affecting public sector employees, holding that though such legislation substantially impairs contract rights, the measures are reasonable and necessary to salvage the actuarial...

As Puerto Rico prepares to access the public markets with a new bond issue, the Wall Street Journal reports that the list of demands from some potential investors include, in addition to a high interest rate and as much security as the issuer can provide, the issuer’s consent to the adjudication in the New York courts of any future disputes involving the applicable bonds.

The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) hosted an unusual public conference call on October 31 to respond to legal questions raised by investors in bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation, better known by its Spanish acronym, COFINA. During the one-hour call (which is available for replay on the GDB website), bond counsel and underwriters’ counsel made...