Ambac Shares Fall as Puerto Rico Moves to Default on Some Bonds
- Puerto Rico to Default on Rum-Tax Bond Insured by Ambac
- Ambac Financial Shares Have Declined 41 percent in 2015
Puerto Rico Will Miss Two Bond Payments
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Shares of bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. fall as much as 4.2 percent after Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said the commonwealth would default on some bonds insured by a company subsidiary.
Puerto Rico won’t make a $35.9 million payment due Jan. 1 on debt issued by the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority and backed by federal excise taxes on rum produced on the island and sold in the U.S. The island also won’t make a $1.4 million payment on Public Finance Corp. bonds. A $357 million payment of interest due on Puerto Rico’s general-obligation debt will be paid.