Puerto Rico News Digest For July 13, 2016

200K ZIKA CASES POSSIBLE BY YEAR END

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"The committee created by the Puerto Rico government to confront the Zika
virus reported Monday that more than 200,000 cases of people infected with
the virus could be registered by the end of the year. According to island State
Department Epidemiologist Brenda Rivera, a drastic increase in the pattern of
infection of the virus has been noted in recent weeks. According to the most re-
cent report, an increase of 30 percent in cases have been reported..."

S&P CUTS PRASA DEBT RATING

From Caribbean Business:

"S&P Global Ratings lowered its ratings on Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer
Authority’s (Prasa) series 2008 and 2012 senior-lien revenue bonds two not-
ches to ‘CC’ from ‘CCC-‘. The outlook is negative. At the same time, it low-
ered to ‘D’ from ‘CCC-‘ the rating on Prasa’s obligations that also carry a Co-
mmonwealth of Puerto Rico guarantee, as well as those obligations that are co-
mmonwealth-supported. It removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they
were placed with  negative implications on Aug. 18, 2015..."

TOURISM BOOKINGS UP 6% THIS SUMMER

From News Is My Business:

"The Puerto Rico Tourism Co.’s fourth annual “Summer is Easy” promotion
is outpacing last summer’s bookings, generating a 6 percent rise in participa-
ting partner room night sales in May and a 7 percent rise in June, versus the
same months in 2015, the agency said Monday. Comparatively, bookings thr-
ough “Summer is Easy” partner Expedia are currently 9.7 percent above 2015
bookings. The promotion highlights how travel to Puerto Rico has never been
easier — no passport is required for U.S. citizens, more than 70 direct flights
from the U.S. to Puerto Rico daily — and how many things there are to do on
the island..."

SAMSUNG PAY NOW AVAILABLE IN PR 

From Banking Technology:

"Samsung Pay will support eligible credit cards from Banco Popular, Puerto
Rico’s largest bank, and will be available on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Cla-
ro networks in Puerto Rico. The firm says Samsung Pay is the “only” mobile
wallet that allows users to pay with their compatible Samsung smartphones at
terminals, due to both MST (magnetic secure transmission) and NFC (near fie-
ld communications) technologies.Thomas Ko, vice-president and global co-ge-
neral manager of Samsung Pay at Samsung Electronics, says users can shop in
Puerto Rico right from their phones at retail chains and independent businesses..."

Credit Rating Agencies Throw Our Senior Citizens Under the Bus And Congress Pulls Out All Stops to Protect Their Wall Street Friends!

Commentary

Richard Lawless










Once again we are faced with one inevitable truth.  Our legislators protect Wall
Street, not us.

The municipal bond market is approximately $4.2 trillion dollars. Municipal
bonds are a favorite of retired Americans and Senior Citizens for their double
tax free income.  80% of the bonds issued are either directly held by these folks
or held through a mutual fund.

Senior Citizens rely on this income to supplement their social security and pen-
sions.  The average bond holder has a household income of $30,000 or less.

There is clear and compelling evidence of massive municipal bond fraud on the
part of S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.  The Puerto Rico financial collapse spurred a
number of Senatorial Hearings in Puerto Rico.  In these hearings there was di-
rect sworn testimony from municipal agency executives that the rating agencies
knew they were bankrupt but for the right fee would issue a good credit rating
for their bonds.  Subsequent accounting audits of the bond issues verified that
the entities were technically bankrupt when S&P, Fitch and Moody’s issued good
credit ratings to them.  $56 billion of the $70 billion in bond debt issued, is held
by Americans in the fifty states.

In addition to first hand testimony and audits there is abundant evidence of coll-
usion between the rating agencies.  Much like the results of a DNA test; 10,000,
000 to 1 probabilities, the odds that the three rating agencies got the same things
wrong across so many bond issues, leaves no doubt, there was collusion. Make no
mistake, the evidence is overwhelming and this is a massive criminal enterprise in-
volving hundreds of billions of dollars.

All of our Congressman and Senators have been given the testimony and the audits.
The legislatures are aware of the SEC and FBI investigations and are doing every-
thing they can do to obstruct any progress on that front.  There are even CIA recor-
dings that implicate the Puerto Rico FBI and US Attorney offices in this criminal
enterprise.

While most of our Representatives do nothing, a small but powerful group of Con-
gressman and Senators are aggressively throwing us under the bus to protect their
contributors.

A complete and full report was also sent to the House and Senate Oversight Co-
mmittees. I recommend that all Americans call the numbers below and let them
know, “WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WILL NOT TAKE IT ANY MORE”.


House Committee on Oversight                           Senate Committee on Oversight
2157 Rayburn House Office Building                   340 Dirksen Street (Senate Offices)
Washington, DC 20515                                        Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 225-5074  Fax: (202) 225-3974        (202) 224-4751



Mr. Lawless has twenty-five years of experience in performing forensic accounting reviews.  Mr. 
Lawless received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Pepperdine University and a Master’s in 
Business Administration with a focus on finance from the University of San Diego.  Richard has
had a long banking career as a commercial lender and has served as a senior and executive ma-
nager for major banking institutions. In these roles Mr. Lawless was responsible for billions of 
dollars in assets.  Mr. Lawless has also served as Chairman and CEO for a number of non-ban-
king companies some of which have been in the energy sector. Mr. Lawless' opinions are exclu-
sively his own and do not necessarily represent those of Th Puerto Rico Monitor, its contributors 
or advertisers.

Puerto Rico News Digest For July 2, 2015

FINES FOR WATER MISUSE NOW IN EFFECT

Puerto Rico's water utility, AAA, began to issue fines yesterday to water
users who were in violation of rules approved on June 15 and which be-
came effective yesterday. The rules cover all 48 municipalities which are
suffering from drought, for as long as the crisis lasts. Fines range from $250
for residential users to $750 for commercial users. Among the actions that
can prompt a fine: hosing down driveways or other structures, filling water
fountains that don't reuse water, washing vehicles with water that is not being
reused, filling swimming pools, watering grass or plants from 8 AM to 6 PM,
knowing of broken water pipes or leaks on your property and not fixing them,
letting water run indiscriminately, using water for recreational purposes and
performing maintenance on water tanks if it means dumping more than 85%
of the water in it. You are allowed to wash a car with a bucket, wash laundry
and water plants at night.

NEW AREAS ADDED TO WATER RATIONING PLAN

AAA has announced that water rationing will be extended to new areas star-
ting this coming Monday, July 6. The areas to be affected are: Guaynabo,
Montehiedra, Caimito and La Morenita in Bayamón. Little to no rain is ex-
pected over the drought-stricken areas of the island in the coming days.

RATINGS AGENCIES DOWNGRADE PR DEBT

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) and Fitch Ratings lowered their
credit ratings for Puerto Rico on Tuesday after Gov. Alejandro García Pa-
dilla said the commonwealth needed to restructure its debt. S&P said it
placed all of Puerto Rico’s debt at the same ‘CCC-minus’ level. Fitch Ra-
tings also downgraded Puerto Rico’s general obligation (GO) and related
debt ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B’.

GOV'T AGENCIES TO UNDERGO MAJOR CHANGES

From Caribbean Business:

Agency consolidation, municipal office closures and providing more govern-
ment services online were some of the "profound changes" public agencies
could face to reduce costs, La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Víctor Suárez said
Wednesday. "There are agencies that will undergo profound changes in how
they provide services to the government and the way the government commu-
nicates with these agencies. That is a discussion that had already begun and
will be discussed more intensely in the coming days," Suárez said at a press
conference at La Fortaleza. The drastic transformations have been discussed
at meetings convened by Gov. Alejandro García Padilla to hear ideas and see
which mechanisms he will implement to restructure the island economically
following his announcement Monday that the island's debt is "unpayable."

PUBLIC WORKERS TO KEEP GETTING PAID

From Reuters:

Puerto Rico's public workers should not worry about getting their paychecks as
the government will keep paying them, at a cost of $250 million every 15 days,
the commonwealth's House Speaker Jaime Perello said Wednesday. A key bill
that has secured legislative passage and that is expected to be signed into law
this week will boost the island's cashflow for its operations by allowing it to ra-
ise $400 million in Tax & Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANs). The govern-
ment will raise the cash for the notes from three public insurance corporations.

Puerto Rico Gets Downgrade—Is It America's Greece?

Feature

Everett Rosenfeld

CNBC

CNBC

Standard & Poor's downgraded Puerto Rico last week to CCC+, giving
the perennially struggling U.S. territory the same credit rating as Greece.

Puerto Rico has been called "Greece in the Caribbean" or "America's
Greece" in light of its poor credit ratings,  high debt levels and flagging
economy with high unemployment. But the situation is much less dire
for the American territory than it is for Greece, in part because Puerto
Rico's debt levels are a much lower percentage of its GDP, compared
with Europe's "sick man"...[CONTINUE READING]

Puerto Rico News Digest For April 27, 2015

PR MAN MISSING AFTER NEPAL QUAKE

As reported today by El Nuevo Dia, Francis H. González, a scientist
from Puerto Rico, is currently missing in Nepal, days after it was shaken
by a strong earthquake which has left thousands dead and injured. A
friend of the young man last heard from González via email on April 16,
two days after he arrived in Nepal during a tour of Asia which began last
year. González may or may not have left the country before the quake.
The Department of State will be holding a conference call with the Ne-
palese embassy in Washington DC today to discuss efforts to find the
scientist.

PERELLO: GOV'T SHUTDOWN OUT OF QUESTION

From The San Juan Daily Star:

House Speaker Jaime Perelló said Thursday that he doesn’t know
the exact date when the government could shut down operations
due to the lack of liquidity at the Government Development Bank
(GDB) “because we are working so that a government shutdown isn’t
even an issue under consideration.” “We are not willing to shut down
the government,” Perelló said. “We are not willing to fire one single
public worker. And we are going to approve what we have to approve
so that our public workers get paid on the 15th and on the 30th of each
month and for government services to continue operating. That is why
we are working with such seriousness.” Perelló was reacting to a letter
sent by the GDB board of directors warning lawmakers of a possible
government shutdown within the next three months as the bank is rea-
ching levels of insolvency with a  little more than $500 million left in
its portfolio.

PR DOWNGRADED TO CCC+ BY S&P

From CNBC:

Standard & Poor's downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation rating
to "CCC+" from "B." The ratings agency said the downgrade - issued late
Friday and announced again Monday morning - was based on its view that
"the commonwealth's market access prospects have further weakened and
Puerto Rico's ability to meet its financial commitments is increasingly tied
to the business, financial, and economic conditions on the island." It also
placed the general obligation rating on CreditWatch negative.

CULINARY FEST TO BE HELD MAY 16

From Caribbean Business:

Universidad del Este's José A. (Tony) Santana International School
of Hospitality and Culinary Arts will hold its first food festival,
Gastroarte 2015. The event, which promises to exhibit the best of
Caribbean flavors, will take place May 16 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. in
Carolina. It will feature music, restaurant exhibitions, artisans, coffee
growers and mixologists, as well as presentations by renowned Puerto
Rican chefs. Gastroarte is the first event to be held with the aim of de-
monstrating the school's academic excellence as the best in hospitality
and culinary arts in Puerto Rico.

OLIVE GARDEN TO HIRE 250 FOR SAN PATRICIO

From News Is My Business:

Looking to promote local economic development and job creation, Puerto
Rican company Restaurant Operators Inc., announced it is looking to fill
250 slots at its second Olive Garden restaurant expected to open this
summer in San Patricio Plaza in Guaynabo. The company is looking for
part-time waiters, service assistants, cooks, hosts and bartenders, among
other employees.