U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said yesterday that it is "essential" that Puerto Rico be given access to a mechanism to restructure its debt, calling on Congress to "act quickly" to address the island's $70 billion debt crisis, Reuters reported. A solution for Puerto Rico "must include both independent oversight" of the island's finances "and an orderly process to restructure the commonwealth's debt," Lew said. The Treasury had previously voiced support for passing laws to allow Puerto Rico to file bankruptcy, but no such language made it into Congress' omnibus spending bill, unveiled this week. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday he had instructed committees to work with Puerto Rico's government to come up with a solution to the island's financial woes, calling for a plan to be crafted by the end of March. Read more.
Rep. Pedro Pierluisi recently spoke for an exclusive ABI video outlining why congressional action is needed to help reverse Puerto Rico's debt crisis. Watch the video here.
The December episode of "Eye on Bankruptcy" today was devoted to Puerto Rico, featuring remarks by Rep. Pedro Pierluisi, Judge Steven Rhodes and an analysis of the coming Supreme Court argument on whether the Recovery Act was pre-empted by the Bankruptcy Code. (Link to program available next week at http://www.eyeonbankruptcy.com/.)
Join experts in San Juan to discuss Puerto Rico's economic distress and other important cross-border insolvency topics at ABI's Caribbean Insolvency Symposium, Feb. 4-6, 2016. Click here to register!
For more news and analysis of Puerto Rico's debt crisis, be sure to visit ABI's "Puerto Rico in Distress" webpage.
