Although Puerto Rico’s much-discussed sub-investment grade general obligation bond issue is not yet being marketed via an official preliminary official statement, it appears that a draft POS has been making the rounds. 

As reported by the Wall Street Journal today and by other sources, the authorizing legislation for Puerto Rico’s much anticipated $3.5 billion non investment grade general obligation issue has become hung up in Puerto Rico’s Senate over language included in the bill passed by the territory's House of Representatives.

After initially putting the brakes on the MSRB’s attempt to use underwriters of Section 529 college savings plans as its data-gathering team, the SEC has pressed the accelerator and approved an amended MSRB Rule G-45.

We previously discussed the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s decision in the Hernandez case, in which by a 5-4 vote the court upheld the constitutionality under federal and Puerto Rico law of pension reform legislation affecting public sector employees.

As Puerto Rico prepares to access the public markets with a new bond issue, the Wall Street Journal reports that the list of demands from some potential investors include, in addition to a high interest rate and as much security as the issuer can provide, the issuer’s consent to the adjudication in the New York courts of any future disputes involving the applicable bonds.

The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB) hosted an unusual public conference call on October 31 to respond to legal questions raised by investors in bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation, better known by its Spanish acronym, COFINA.

This is a reminder that tomorrow, April 10, 2013, is the deadline for parties to certain swap agreements to obtain a CICI identifying number.

The IRS recently issued a private letter ruling, PLR 201310043 (released on March 8, 2013), of interest to Section 529 plans and their program managers. The ruling relates to the tax treatment of incentive contributions to 529 accounts and was issued in response to a ruling request by a financial services complex described as including a bank and broker.

A recent ruling in the American Airlines bankruptcy case enforcing an automatic acceleration upon bankruptcy provision serves as a reminder that the enforceability of so-called ipso facto provisions in debt instruments remains an unsettled, forum-dependent question. 

MSRB Rule G-17 has been interpreted by the MSRB as requiring a broker or dealer (“broker”) to  disclose to its customer, at or prior to the time of trade of a municipal security, all material information about the transaction known by the broker, as well as material information about the security that is reasonably accessible to the market.