Puerto Rico and its main electric utility have spent more than $60 million in legal and advisory fees from firms such as Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Millstein & Co. over the past two years as the governor and public finance officials have sought to restructure the island’s $72 billion debt burden, Bloomberg News reported today.
Puerto Rico in Distress
Video Features
ABI Analysis
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley urged Congress to pass a bill that would allow some agencies of Puerto Rico to file for chapter 9 protection, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.
Up against a deadline to reveal its plan to restructure its staggering debt, Puerto Rico has decided not to move ahead with a controversial proposal to borrow an additional $750 million to pay for improvements to its water and sewer authority, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. It attributed the decision, made on Monday, to the turmoil in the global markets.
A private sector coalition of over 20 trade associations is speaking with a single voice and asking Congress to grant Puerto Rico the right to allow its public corporations access to protections under chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, according to a commentary on the Huffington Post on Friday.