A judge yesterday ordered banks to comply with a request from Puerto Rico’s federally created financial oversight board to disclose customer information related to certain debt issued by the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth, Reuters reported. The ruling boosts a potential effort by the board to recover billions of dollars in payments made to bondholders should a federal court hearing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy cases choose to invalidate disputed debt issued by the government and its agencies. U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Gail Dein’s order said “good cause exists” to grant the board’s motion, which seeks to compel banks to submit bondholder names and addresses along with Puerto Rico debt payments the bondholders received between 2013 and 2017. The Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America Corp, JP Morgan Chase Bank, and U.S. Bank objected to the board’s request last week, citing concerns over disclosing confidential customer information, as well as the cost and ability to produce a large amount of information by the April 19 deadline set by the board.
