Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), along with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.-07), today applauded the House passage of the bicameral and bipartisan Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act (PRRADA) by the House of Representatives, which was passed unanimously in the Senate last month. The bill now heads to the President Biden’s desk for his signature.
“I am thrilled that the House of Representatives has passed the Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act, clearing the final hurdle for this bipartisan and bicameral bill to be signed into law by President Biden,” said Sen. Menendez. “This bill will close an unfair loophole in PROMESA that for too long allowed bankruptcy advisers and consultants to get rich off of worsening economic inequalities in Puerto Rico without having to disclose their conflicts of interest with creditors to whom Puerto Rico owed money. The people of Puerto Rico will finally have the long overdue transparency they deserve in the debt restructuring process.”
“Now that the House of Representatives has passed this important bipartisan legislation, our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico are one step closer to benefitting from closing an existing loophole that will bring much needed transparency. I urge President Biden to swiftly sign this bill into law and ensure it is fully implemented,” said Sen. Rubio.
“I am so proud that today, the House has taken the final step to send the Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act to the President’s desk to be signed into law,” said Rep. Velázquez. “By applying a robust disclosure requirement to all PROMESA Title III proceedings and eliminating the double standard facing the people of Puerto Rico, this bill will help to restore confidence that the Board’s bankruptcy advisors do not have their ‘thumb on the scale’ to favor certain debts where they have a self-interest. This bipartisan bill ensures the integrity of the PROMESA process and will bring welcome transparency and confidence in the island’s future.”
In 2016, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), an effort to provide the people of Puerto Rico with a standardized bankruptcy process that would allow the island to restructure its debts, pay off creditors, approve crucial infrastructure projects, and promote economic growth and development. Among other reasons, Sen. Menendez opposed PROMESA because it failed to require bankruptcy advisers, accountants, and other professionals involved in the debt restructuring to disclose their conflicts of interests with creditors to whom Puerto Rico owed money.
This bipartisan and bicameral piece of legislation will impose robust disclosure requirements on all of the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board’s advisers and consultants, closing the loophole in PROMESA that has disadvantaged the people of Puerto Rico in the island’s debt restructuring process. PRRADA will require attorneys, accountants and all other professionals involved in the debt restructuring to disclose potential conflicts of interests, ensuring that the people of Puerto Rico have access to the same transparency and disclosure practices required by law in U.S. mainland bankruptcy cases.
The passage of PRRADA comes on the heels of a federal judge approving Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring plan, which consolidates around $33 billion in existing claims. After five years of bankruptcy proceedings, PRRADA’s enactment is crucial to ensure parties related to all consolidations file their disclosures and guarantee any debt restructuring truly serves the best interests of the people of Puerto Rico.
In the Senate, in addition to Sens. Menendez and Rubio, PRRADA was cosponsored by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). In the House, PRRADA was also cosponsored by Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.-05), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.-03), David Cicilline (D-R.I.-01), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Jenniffer González (R-Puerto Rico), Darren Soto (D-Fla.-09), and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-15).
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