Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

The first visible sign that the health care system in Puerto Rico was seriously in trouble was when a steady stream of doctors — more than 3,000 in five years — began to leave the island for more lucrative, less stressful jobs on the mainland, the New York Times reported today.

UBS Group AG has confirmed a U.S. Justice Department criminal probe of an unnamed former employee in Puerto Rico, and disclosed a pair of related investigations by other regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The former UBS employee is José Ramirez, a financial adviser who was fired last year.

Today's "Eye on Bankruptcy" from Bloomberg Law and ABI features Judge Robert Drain (S.D.N.Y.) and Prof. Stephen Lubben (Seton Hall Law School) with host Bill Rochelle, discussing the implications of a series of important Supreme Court cases from this term: Baker Botts (professional fees), Wellness (bankruptcy court jurisdiction), Caulkett (lien stripping of mortgages), Bullard (appealability of final orders) and Harris (treatment of payments after conversion from Ch. 13).

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said that a failure by Congress to help Puerto Rico resolve its debts may hit the retirement portfolios of average Americans, as he stepped up his call for lawmakers to help the island, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.