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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), along with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the bicameral and bipartisan Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act (PRRADA) (H.R. 1192). As the bill reflects changes made in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the bill heads back to the House of Representatives for consideration.
This bipartisan and bicameral piece of legislation would impose robust disclosure requirements on all of the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board’s advisers and consultants, closing a loophole in existing law that disadvantages the people of Puerto Rico in the island’s debt restructuring process. PRRADA will require attorneys, accountants and other professionals involved in the debt restructuring to disclose potential conflicts of interests, ensuring that the people of Puerto Rico are afforded the same transparency and disclosure practices required by law in U.S. mainland bankruptcy cases.
“It is past time to close this loophole and ensure our fellow citizens living in Puerto Rico are benefitting from transparency requirements that are afforded to Americans living on the mainland,” Rubio said. “Today, the Senate has taken a step in the right direction to require advisors and consultants to Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Oversight Board to disclose conflicts of interest. I look forward to seeing the legislation receive swift passage in the House.”
“When Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act in 2016, one of the many reasons I was vehemently opposed is because it included an unfair loophole that allowed bankruptcy advisers and consultants to get rich off of worsening economic inequalities in Puerto Rico without having to disclose their conflicts of interests with creditors to whom Puerto Rico owed money,” Menendez said. “Today we took a monumental leap forward in righting this wrong. By unanimously passing this legislation in the Senate, the people of Puerto Rico are now one step closer to finally having the transparency they deserve in the debt restructuring process.”
“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,” Rep. Velázquez said. “I’m very proud that it has passed the Senate and now the House must quickly follow suit so it can become law once-and-for-all.”
Washington, D.C. — Los senadores Marco Rubio (R-FL) y Bob Menéndez (D-NJ), junto a la Congresista Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), aplaudieron la aprobación unánime por parte del senado de EE.UU. de la legislación bicameral y bipartidista de Exactitud de Divulgación en Puerto Rico (PRRADA, por sus siglas en inglés) (H.R. 1192). Dado que el proyecto de ley refleja cambios realizados en el Comité de Energía y Recursos Naturales del Senado de EE.UU., la legislación vuelve a la Cámara de Representantes para su consideración.
Esta legislación bipartidista y bicameral busca imponer requisitos de divulgación más robustos a todos los asesores y consultores contratados por la Junta de Supervisión y Administración Financiera de Puerto Rico, lo cual cerraría una laguna jurídica que actualmente perjudica al pueblo puertorriqueño en el proceso de reestructuración de deuda en la isla. La ley PRRADA requerirá que abogados, asesores y otros profesionales involucrados en el proceso de reestructuración de deuda tengan que divulgar cualquier conflicto de interés, asegurándose que el pueblo puertorriqueño tenga acceso a las mismas prácticas de transparencia y divulgación requeridas por ley en los casos de quiebra en el resto de EE.UU.
“Ya era hora de cerrar esta brecha en la ley y asegurarnos que nuestros compatriotas que viven en Puerto Rico se beneficien de los requisitos de transparencia que se les otorga a los americanos que residen en otras partes de EE.UU.”, Rubio dijo. “Hoy, el Senado ha dado un paso importante al requerir que los asesores y consultores de la Junta de Supervisión Fiscal de Puerto Rico revelen conflictos de intereses. Espero que esta legislación sea aprobada rápidamente en la Cámara de Representantes”.
“Cuando el Congreso aprobó la Ley PROMESA, una de las muchas razones por las que me opuse con vehemencia fue por la inclusión de una laguna jurídica injusta que permitía que los asesores y consultores de bancarrota pudieran enriquecerse a costas del empeoramiento de las desigualdades económicas en Puerto Rico, y sin ni siquiera tener que revelar sus conflictos de intereses con los acreedores a quienes Puerto Rico les debe dinero”, Menéndez dijo. “Hoy hemos tomado un paso trascendental para corregir esta injusticia. Al aprobar por unanimidad esta legislación en el Senado, el pueblo de Puerto Rico está más cerca de tener finalmente la transparencia que se merece en el proceso para reestructurar la deuda de la isla”.
“Al aplicar un robusto requisito de divulgación a todos los procedimientos del Título III de PROMESA y eliminar el doble estándar al que se enfrenta el pueblo de Puerto Rico, este proyecto de ley ayudará a restablecer la confianza en que los asesores de quiebra de la Junta no tienen su ‘mano en la balanza’ para favorecer ciertas deudas en las que tienen un interés propio”, la Congresista Velázquez dijo. “Estoy muy orgullosa de que se haya aprobado en el Senado y ahora la Cámara debe seguir rápidamente su ejemplo para que se convierta en ley de una vez por todas”.