Puerto Rico Leaves Creditors Wanting More as Protests Hit Banks
(Bloomberg) -- Puerto Rico Government Development Bank president Melba Acosta speaks about the case for a restructuring of the commonwealth's $72 billion of debt. Jim Millstein, a former Treasury Department official who is advising Puerto Rico, also spoke at the event. (Source: Puerto Rico Government Development Bank)
As demonstrators waved Puerto Rico flags, shook maracas and held signs that read “U.S. banks play roulette and the people pay the debt,” commonwealth officials won little support among investors for plans to restructure the island’s $72 billion debt burden.
Participants from among the more than 300 representatives of institutional investment firms, hedge funds and insurance companies that assembled at Citigroup Inc.’s New York headquarters Monday to hear Puerto Rico officials make their case said they were left with no new clarity on which of the island’s long-term obligations will undergo the most change. Officials have yet to say whether the cash-strapped island will repay bonds maturing in 19 days.