Puerto Rico’s government is trying to convince hundreds of wealthy investors to move to the U.S. territory, hoping they could help lift it out of a deepening economic crisis, the Associated Press reported today. Officials hosted a meeting for investors yesterday to promote local tax incentives aimed at luring the wealthy. New York hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, who recently bought some of Puerto Rico’s most upscale resorts, said that solving the island’s fiscal situation is essential to encouraging more investment. Paulson declined to say how much he has invested in Puerto Rico and acknowledged that he doesn’t own any of the island’s staggering $72 billion public debt. Puerto Rico already has convinced other millionaires and billionaires to move to the island with measures approved in recent years that exempt people from taxes on any capital gains accrued after they move to the island. But critics question whether the amount of jobs created and real estate bought has been enough to boost the economy. Read more.
The latest ABI podcast features ABI Resident Scholar Prof. Melissa Jacoby talking with sovereign debt experts Profs. Mitu Gulati of Duke University School of Law and Anna Gelpern of Georgetown University School of Law about Puerto Rico's spiraling financial distress. Gulati and Gelpern compare Puerto Rico's financial situation to other recent sovereign debt crises, and examine current restructuring proposals for Puerto Rico. Click here to listen.
For more news and analysis of Puerto Rico's debt crisis, be sure to visit ABI's "Puerto Rico in Distress" webpage.
