Puerto Rico's newly created federal oversight board, charged with helping the U.S. commonwealth navigate through a crushing $70 billion debt burden, announced it will hold its first meeting in New York City on Friday, Reuters reported. The seven-member board, created by the U.S. Congress in part to stave off a massive default and help the Puerto Rican government renegotiate its debt obligations, is scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. EDT, when it will elect a chairperson, the board said in a statement on Friday. The board also said that it will formally request from Puerto Rico's governor the submission of a fiscal turnaround plan, which is a key requirement of the federal Puerto Rico rescue law that created the board, known as PROMESA. The turnaround plan must ultimately be approved by the board, which has broad powers to approve the island's budgets and facilitate debt restructuring talks. The board is comprised of four Republicans, including former Puerto Rico Government Development Bank Chairman Carlos Garcia and bankruptcy expert David Skeel, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; and three Democrats, including former New York bankruptcy judge Arthur Gonzalez. Read more.
Click here to view the agenda for the meeting.
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