puerto rico

Sounder economic data could pay off for Puerto Rico — and its banks

03/17/19

The federal government's more active role in GDP, payroll and other vital statistics produced by the island could hasten its recovery from Hurricane Maria and lift lending and bank valuations at the same time.

[more]

Puerto Rico, the Board, and the Appointments Clause

03/04/19

As many will have seen in the press, the First Circuit has said that PROMESA's Oversight Board was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause.

[more]

CDS Strikes Again (Aurelius and Windstream)

02/24/19

Long ago I warned that the growth the of the CDS (credit default swap) market represented a threat to traditional understandings of how workouts and restructurings are supposed to happen. The recent Windstream decision from the SDNY shows that these basic issues are still around, notwithstanding an intervening financial crisis and resulting regulatory reform.

[more]

The Commonwealth and the GOs, part 2

01/28/19

In my last post, I noted that the joint committee-Board objection to the 2012 and 2014 Puerto Rico GOs was at least plausible, and thus is likely headed for more extensive litigation.

[more]

The Commonwealth and the GOs, part 1

01/23/19

While there has been some press coverage of the recent attempts to annul some $6 billion of Puerto Rican general obligation bonds – essentially all such debt issued starting in 2012 onward – the move has not received much deep coverage.

[more]

Aurelius v. Puerto Rican Control Board (and "What Possibly Could be the Logic Behind Puerto Rico Being in the First Circuit?")

12/17/18

Last Monday, December 3, the First Circuit heard an oral argument that I have been looking forward to for ages.  The case involves an infamously aggressive hedge fund making an audacious challenge to the constitutionality of the Puerto Rican Control Board—an argument that is framed (hilariously, I think) as rescuing the Puerto Rican people from tyranny.  The events that followed did not disappoint in terms of drama. 

[more]

Almost Citizens -- by Sam Erman

12/15/18

For those of you, who like me have been following the Puerto Rican debt drama, this wonderful new book by Sam Erman of USC might be of interest.  There are many wonderful and insightful stories in this book that I was altogether unaware of, despite having spent a lot of time reading about Puerto Rico's bizarre constitutional status.  Ultimately though, the most intriguing and insightful aspect of the book, to me, was the connection that Sam draws between the strange "foreign in a domestic sense" status of Puerto Rico and the events surrounding Recon

[more]

Will this be CRE lenders' new best friend?

10/29/18

Federal "Opportunity Zones" that reduce exposure on capital gains could draw rich investors — and commercial lenders along with them — into economic development projects in thousands of troubled communities around the country.

[more]

Could lenders have done anything differently in Puerto Rico?

09/27/18

Few small businesses in Puerto Rico applied for credit to finance recovery from hurricane damage. The reasons are instructive for financial institutions’ response to disaster recovery, the New York Fed says.

[more]