The protection of US regulatory oversight over Puerto Rico's banks, including US federal deposit insurance and the intervention authority of the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, is critical to considering the range of possible outcomes facing local banks on the island, says Fitch Ratings. The US umbrella materially differentiates the situation in Puerto Rico versus other regions where the local government is battling a fiscal crisis. Such distinctions are relevant given the comparisons commonly being drawn between Puerto Rico and Greece.

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