House Passes Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), along with U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), applauded the House passage of the bicameral and bipartisan Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act (PRRADA) (S. 375/H.R. 1192). Last month, the Senate passed the bill unanimously. With today's House passage, the bill heads to the President's desk for his signature.
"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," Rubio said. "I urge President Biden to swiftly sign this bill into law and ensure it is fully implemented."
"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," Menendez said. "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."
"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," Velázquez said. "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."
"H.R. 1192 is an important piece in the effort to ensure the restructuring process under PROMESA serves Puerto Rico's interests," Puerto Rico Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón, an original co-sponsor of the legislation, said. "I'm proud that the House approved today the Senate amendment to this bipartisan bill, which promotes accountability and transparency when recruiting human resources who will help make decisions regarding Puerto Rico's fiscal transactions. Our goal is to reach the day we no longer need the provisions of PROMESA and the Oversight Board, but until that happens, these instruments must be accountable and transparent."
Background:
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.
PRRADA 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. The legislation will also 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 ensuring parties related to all consolidations file their disclosures and guarantee any debt restructuring truly serves the best interests of the people of Puerto Rico.