On June 30, 2016, the United States Senate passed the “Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act” (“PROMESA”) and it was quickly signed into law by President Obama.^[1] PROMESA enables the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its public corporations and other instrumentalities in financial distress to restructure their debt.

When we last discussed the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s efforts to restructure some $72 billion in municipal debt, a Federal District Court Judge had found the Commonwealth’s 2014 municipal debt-restructuring law, the “Recovery Act,” to be pre-empted by the federal Bankruptcy Code, unconstitutional and therefore void.

On May 3, 2017, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (the “Oversight Board”), acting on behalf of the cash-strapped Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth”), filed for bankruptcy protection in the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The Commonwealth’s Title III Petition for Covered Territory or Covered Instrumentality (the “Petition”) was filed in accordance with Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (“PROMESA”), codified at 48 U.S.C. § 2161, et seq.

On May 3, 2017, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico filed a voluntary petition for relief on behalf of Puerto Rico in federal court there. The filing required the Chief Justice of the United States to designate a district court judge to conduct the case. On May 5, Chief Justice Roberts appointed District Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York. Judge Swain was a bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of New York before joining the district court in 2000.

The Bottom Line

Background

Renewable energy industry participants are hungrily eyeing the tiny U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, trying to determine whether the island’s debt crisis-driven troubles – which recently put a halt on development activities on the island - are at an end. Until recent issues arose, the island was a hotbed of renewable energy activity. High energy prices, high insolation and the promise of 20 MW-plus deals with a government-backed utility generated excitement throughout the solar community.

Law360, New York (June 30, 2016, 1:20 PM ET) -- After four hearings and one markup at the House Committee on Natural Resources, and countless hours of public and behind-the-scenes debate by the legislators, the House of Representatives passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) on June 9, 2016. Then, on June 29, 2016, the Senate agreed to the House bill, sending the bill to the president for his expected signature.

Puerto Rico is in the midst of a ­financial crisis. Over the past few years, its public debt skyrocketed while its government revenue sharply declined. In order to address its economic problems and to avoid mass public-worker layoffs and cuts in public services, the unincorporated U.S. territory issued billions of dollars in face value of municipal bonds. These bonds were readily saleable to investors in the United States due to their tax-exempt status and comparatively high yields.

Just one day before the July 1 deadline for an expected major default by the Government of Puerto Rico, President Barack Obama signed into law the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), a sweeping new law designed to bring stability to the Puerto Rican economy and establish oversight of the Island’s budget and fiscal policies for at least the next five years.