On May 3, 2017, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (“FOMB”), at the request of then-Governor Rosselló Nevares, commenced a Title III case for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth”) by filing a petition for relief pursuant to Section 304(a) of PROMESA, 48 U.S.C. § 2164(a), in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. As such, the Commonwealth is currently a debtor in a proceeding under Title III of PROMESA, 48 U.S.C. § 2161, et seq. Pursuant to Section 315(b) of PROMESA, 48 U.S.C. § 2175(b), the FOMB serves as the Commonwealth’s representative in its Title III proceeding.
The Commonwealth’s Title III proceeding includes all Commonwealth’s agencies and instrumentalities that legally constitute the Commonwealth. Other governmental entities that operate within the Commonwealth but with separate legal existence from the Commonwealth are not included under the Commonwealth’s Title III proceeding. Such other legally distinct governmental entities will only become subject to a Title III proceeding if, and when, the FOMB files a petition for relief on behalf of said entity pursuant to Section 304(a) of PROMESA. Currently, only four additional governmental entities are debtors in a pending Title III proceeding: (i) the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority; (ii) the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (iii) the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority; and (iv) the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority. The Commonwealth’s Title III proceeding is being jointly administered with the foregoing Title III cases for procedural purposes only in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico under Case No. 17-BK-03283-LTS. The Title III case docket can be accessed for free by clicking here.
