Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

The Obama administration has devised a plan to help rescue Puerto Rico from its insolvency and, according to a report in The Hill today, it's more sizzle than steak, with no chance of enactment.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the island’s main electricity provider, has entered into a debt-exchange agreement with some of its bondholders and hedge funds that puts the utility a step closer to reducing its $8.3 billion debt load, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Hedge funds’ involvement in the Puerto Rico debt crisis is leading U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) to propose legislation that would force the firms to reveal more about their investments, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

The Obama administration released its Puerto Rico plan last week to give the entire Commonwealth of Puerto Rico the ability to file for chapter 9 bankruptcy to deal with its debt crisis.