Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

Investment funds owning about $1.9 billion of Puerto Rico’s general obligation bonds have formed a committee to negotiate a consensual restructuring with the commonwealth and the federal oversight board that manages its finances, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Puerto Rico’s official death toll from Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to hit the Caribbean island in almost a century, was raised yesterday from 64, a number widely discounted as far too low, to nearly 3,000, based on a study ordered by the governor of the U.S. territory, Reuters reported.

Bondholders in debt issued by Puerto Rico's Employees Retirement System (ERS) were denied a bid to claim collateral property on Aug. 17 by the federal judge overseeing the commonwealth's bankruptcy proceedings, Pensions & Investments reported. U.S.

A U.S. federal judge on Friday ruled against a group of bondholders that bought debt issued by Puerto Rico’s largest public pension, the Employees Retirement System (ERS), denying their ability to hold claim on property used as collateral, Reuters reported.