Today I am not going to talk about PROMESA or the Board. Today I want to address the terrible scourge of corruption in Puerto Rico. On Wednesday, July 11, 2019 the FBI arrested two former Puerto Rican officials and four private industry individuals for theft of federal funds. I am not going to go into the 44-page indictment. Those interested in reviewing can go here.

Suffice it to say that the scheme described in the indictment is private governmental contractors who would conspire with government officials to snag contracts. The scheme is very similar to another scandalous case, the Anaudi Hernández conspiracy, which made headlines in 2016 under the García Padilla administration.  The consequences of this scheme are so devastating that Puerto Rico’s legislative leaders want to meet with the Governor and the Resident Commissioner to see how they can prevent harm to federal transfer payments and other federal funding. The question is how can we greatly reduce this type of corruption while making sure that the desperately needed federal funds are received without delay.

Although President Trump has expressed concern over the possibility of federal relief funds being misappropriated, Puerto Rico has done little to prevent it. Governor Rosselló allegedly implemented anti-corruption measures to monitor the good use of federal funds but once more, it was federal agencies that discovered the theft of over $15 million in federal taxpayers’ money. Since the Puerto Rican Government has shown itself incapable of preventing this type of misappropriation of funds, it is time that President Trump, given the deadlock in Congress, step in. Moreover, Congress is also asking for greater oversight over the use of federal funds in Puerto Rico.

My proposal for this oversight is simple: since the last two big cases of corruption in Puerto Rico are very similar, let’s make it more difficult for thieves to steal. President Trump may appoint a person (Commissioner, Czar, etc.) to review each and every contract Puerto Rico gives out that will be payed with federal funds. This federal official would provide guidelines to the Commonwealth on what contracts to approve and which not to approve, as well as which contracts can be canceled. For example, corporations created or merged shortly before the contract should not be approved, those whose needs are questionable from a management stand point should be denied, as well as cancellation of contracts with good performers in order to give them to friends of the administration should also be denied. This is precisely what is alleged in the Kelleher and Anaudi Hernández indictments.

Also alleged in these indictments is that Government officials shared information on bids with private actors. Although this cannot be entirely eliminated, it can be constrained if the bids are not received by Government officials, but rather by this federal official who will bring them to the Commonwealth office for their opening. As an added restraint, the successful bid cannot be canceled unless clear evidence to the contrary is presented to the federal official. In addition, the federal official would monitor the Puerto Rican Comptroller’s office website for the new contracts just in case P officials “forget” to report a contract. Moreover, its efforts should be coordinated with this office which does the best job it can rooting out government misdeeds.

Why not a Commonwealth agency? The Government of Puerto Rico has shown itself incapable of changing. It has resisted all efforts of the Board to change the way it works and puts political considerations ahead of sound public policy. Moreover, it is obvious that it cannot be trusted to stamp out corruption. The Comptroller’s office, for example, depends on the Commonwealth’s Department of Justice to bring indictments against those who do not follow the rules. Anyone in Puerto Rico can tell you that the Secretary of Justice under all administrations is nothing more than another political hack.

Why not give this function to the Board? Perhaps they could if 1) they weren’t so damn focused on shredding bondholder rights and declaring valid GO debt unconstitutional, and 2) they voluntarily remove their own members who are knee deep in controversies that remain unaddressed (i.e. – the Matasantos affair and the connections some members have to Santander). Moreover, the Board has its arms full with the PREPA and Commonwealth Plan of Adjustment as well as the future dealings with the 78 municipalities. In addition, the Board made it clear to the Commonwealth that it would not review contracts less than $10 million. The contracts at hand were each for less than that amount, but put together they total $15.5 million.

Why not the Federal Coordinator proposed by Mr. Zamot? He still doesn’t seem to get it. His proposal is only to have a federal employee present when dealing with a government contract of recovery funds. We must remember that both the Anaudi and Kelleher cases have nothing to do with recovery funds. All contracts with federal funds must be reviewed and the federal official must have veto power over them. Otherwise, it will business as usual.

This federal official should report to the President directly or a Federal judge appointed by Chief Justice Roberts. This may sound extreme, but the cost is too high for business to remain as usual.

And then maybe this way last Wednesday’s arrest and those to come will not preclude the needy people of Puerto Rico from receiving the federal funding.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for April 29, 2019. A busy week was dominated by the Omnibus hearing of Wednesday April 24.

The Board started the hearing with a report on the timetable for the Fiscal Plan and for the Budget, all very conveniently moved in order to argue an extension of the First Circuit Stay. More on that later. PREPA’s transformation is supposedly on track and the concession for transmission and distribution should be completed by the second quarter of 2020. Mr. Bienestock also stated that the PREPA negotiations were very promising as are negotiations with the Retirees’ Committee on the pensions and with the Judges Association. He also stated that the Board was negotiating the plan of adjustment of the Commonwealth but not with all holders involved. I can assure you that my clients are not included in those negotiations. We’d have to assume Bienenstock is negotiating with the “Lawful” group. The Court was informed that Trump would probably re-nominate the current members of the Board but nothing is certain. Also, Mr. Rosen for the Board informed the Judge that in the next couple of weeks it will present a plan for ADR procedures to be discussed in the June Omnibus but the UCC has not been involved in it.

The Procedures motion on ERS was postponed due to the Retirees Committee filing an objection to ERS bonds as invalid. Given the Board’s May 16 deadline looming and the possibility that the UCC could be excluded in these proceedings, this filing assures that the challenge to the Bonds will continue.

The GO Procedures motion was extensively discussed. Mark Stancil for the Ad Hoc group of GO bondholders argued, with some reason, that they could not bring the PBA bondholders to the case because Rule 14 did not apply to objections and that res judicata could apply later to any claims the could have. Judge Swain mentioned that he could always claim there was lack of an indispensable party but surprisingly, she reserved her decision for later. Therefore, it is likely she will approved the procedures but subject to the objections she mentioned.

The Board, the UCC and other parties agreed to a stipulation where the Committee could be a co-plaintiff with the Board and be a section 926 trustee for the claims to be brought against third parties. The UCC, however, lost its request to bring those actions the Board did not want to bring. That means that no individual will be deemed responsible for the island’s indebtedness. Too bad but Judge Swain again deferred to the Board and said that granting the motion would interfere with its work. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

But at the 11^th hour, the Board revealed it would bring suit against 27 underwriters, 9 law firms and 5 accounting firms under several theories, but not fraud. It will be interesting this week to see who they are.

In preparation for this, Judge Swain issued a new order on cases with more than one hundred defendants or is it in anticipation of bringing all PBA’s into a case? Who knows? In addition, the Board and the UCC have to get together to determine when the list of causes of action and against whom, which were filed under seal, will be unsealed. Seems to be the second half of May.

Going back to PREPA, National objected to the one week extension on the RSA that would include the monolines but Judge Swain, as I predicted, granted the motion. National seems hell bent on seeing the lift stay motion but as I have said many times, I think it is a negotiating tactic to get a better deal for its bonds. In any event, the PREPA lift stay hearing will be held during the June Omnibus.

In a minor defeat, Judge Swain denied without prejudice the blanket equitable tolling on the statute of limitations, asserting that she did not believe she has the power to do so. Implicit in this denial is the possibility that when and if a party raises the issue, she may, or may not, grant the issue of equitable tolling.

Judge Swain also denied, as I predicted, Mr. Hein’s request for a GO small claims Committee. He will be able to call into Court Solutions and listen to the hearings but all other requests he made were denied.

Last week the Board filed its request for certiorari with the SCOTUS. Aside from the usual legal arguments, the Board also averred the following:

The Board is the linchpin of the plan that Congress enacted to address a financial and humanitarian crisis of immediate and unprecedented proportions. Since 2016, the Board has overseen the restructuring of billions of dollars of the Commonwealth’s debt. The Board has filed five Title III restructuring cases on behalf of the Commonwealth, which together involve over $100 billion in claims, and most of which remain ongoing. In connection with that process, the Board recently completed an $18 billion restructuring of COFINA’s bond debt, reaching a settlement that was supported by the principal bondholders and that will save Puerto Rico $456 million in debt payments annually. See p. 8, supra. In addition, through the fiscal-plan and budget approval process, the Board has negotiated intensively with the Governor and the Legislature to identify a range of structural reforms and strategic investments. Given the gravity and breadth of the Board’s responsibilities, the cloud of uncertainty that now hangs over the Board’s actions is intolerable. This Court has routinely granted certiorari to determine whether particular officials were constitutionally appointed in circumstances where far less was at stake. See, e.g., Lucia v. SEC, 138 S. Ct. 2044 (2018); Ortiz, 138 S. Ct. at 2170; Noel Canning, 573 U.S. at 521-522; Edmond, 520 U.S. at 655; Freytag, 501 U.S. at 873. This Court’s attention to appointments issues reflects the fundamental need for certainty concerning the legality of official appointments. Questions about the constitutionality of an official’s appointment cast into doubt the validity of the official’s actions, and the existence of mitigating or remedial measures such as the de facto officer doctrine or ratification do not lessen the need to provide Congress, the President, and the affected officials with certainty concerning permissible appointment methods. See, Ryder, 515 U.S. at 182-183. The need for certainty is all the more pressing here.

B. This Court’s review is also warranted because the decision undermines ongoing efforts to alleviate Puerto Rico’s financial crisis. Notwithstanding the progress the Board and other Puerto Rican government entities have already made, much work remains: tens of billions of dollars in debt still must be restructured through Title III proceedings, and additional reforms are necessary for Puerto Rico to achieve sustainable solvency. The Board must continue to pursue these efforts, lest creditors seek to dismiss the Title III proceedings and subject Puerto Rico to lawsuits that would seek immediate payment of billions of dollars and threaten irreparable damage to the Puerto Rican economy. And an interruption in the fiscal plan and budgetary process could disrupt progress towards fiscal solvency. While the Board has continued to operate pursuant to a stay of the mandate, App. 44a, the decision below has injected considerable uncertainty that has affected the Board’s ongoing negotiations, both with bondholders in the restructuring process and with the Puerto Rican Governor and legislative leaders in the fiscal process. Jayden Sangha, Current Status of Puerto Rico Debt Restructuring, MunicipalBonds.com (Mar. 20, 2019) (although “progress was being made to achieve the objective of debt restructuring for Puerto Rico, this new ruling” threatens to “knock[] any progress off its rails”).

Undoubtedly, the Board is indispensable under PROMESA, BUT, not the current members. Let’s not forget the Aurelius case is NOT about PROMESA, but about how the current members of the Board were appointed. This is a fact conveniently forgotten by the Board. More interestingly, the Board filed the writ of certiorari without the U.S. Solicitor General joining in. Seems the Trump administration will wait to see if a stay is granted before sending any names to Congress. Also, the reforms the Board advocates are not accepted by the Commonwealth and its members have not taken advantage of the powers two First Circuit decisions say it has in order to force these changes. Too afraid to make reforms before the Commonwealth Plan of Adjustment is presented? Also, even a few weeks delay past May 16 would not convince Judge Swain to dismiss the Title III proceedings via 11 U.S.C. § 930. I am sure Aurelius and Utier will point this out in their filings. Speaking of Utier, my sources tell me it will file a writ of certiorari to reverse the First Circuit’s decision on the Board’s pre- and post-decision actions being valid. Would be ironic if SCOTUS grants that certiorari and invalidates these actions.

Additionally, the Board filed with the First Circuit a request for extension of the stay until the certiorari petition is decided, citing the same concerns mentioned above. Judge Torruella issued an order at 7 pm on Thursday April 24 that any comments should be filed by April 29 at 5 pm. I am sure Aurelius and Utier will oppose and would not be surprised if the Solicitor General files in support. We shall see.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for April 22, 2019. This has not only been a busy week but possibly a transcendent one.

As reported last week, the Board wants to conduct discovery as to the identity of the GO bondholders and has served several banks with subpoenas. Magistrate Judge Dein sided with the Board and ordered that the parties get together to protect the confidentiality of the information requested. This order makes one wonder if the Court is aware of how weak the Board’s argument for equitable tolling is? We will know more on Wednesday.  Continuing with discovery, the ERS bondholders, who are also requesting they be named section 926 Trustee, are fighting it out with the Board. Let’s see what happens.

The QTCB Noteholder Group objected Omnibus Conditional Objection of the Ad Hoc Group of General Obligation Bondholders to Claims Filed or Asserted by the Public Buildings Authority, Holders of Public Buildings Authority Bonds, and Holders of Certain Commonwealth General Obligation Bonds, claiming it is not ripe for adjudication since the Board and UCC objections have not been decided. Ambac, National and the UCC filed similar motions, including lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Ad Hoc Group replied on Saturday April 20, 2019, insisting this is a justiciable issue. The controversy will probably be argued on Wednesday during the Omnibus or shortly thereafter.

On April 16, 2019, the UCC and the Board filed a joint motion for a stipulation where the former would be named a trustee pursuant to section 926 of the Bankruptcy Code. The motion also states:

Following the Oversight Board’s and the Special Committee’s disclosure of the preliminary list on April 5, 2019, the Parties have met and conferred extensively to discuss, among other things, the Debtors’ potential causes of actions against certain parties and the allocation of litigation responsibilities. As a result of the meet and confer process, the Parties have agreed to a framework to pursue the potential causes of action, as set forth in the Stipulation. As part of this agreement, but subject to entry of an order approving the Stipulation, the Committee has agreed to waive its right to file an Omnibus Motion with respect to claims or causes of action of the Commonwealth,5 except (i) to the extent provided in paragraph 18 of the Stipulation with respect to Additional Claims and (ii) with respect to claims or causes of action that are subject to tolling agreements or Court-ordered tolling stipulations other than Tolling Agreements with the Potential Defendants. Additional Claims are defined in paragraph 18 of the Stipulation as Commonwealth claims or causes of action, in addition to those to be asserted by the Oversight Board or the Special Claims Committee, related to or with respect to the offerings of the Commonwealth’s GO bonds, PBA bonds, and ERS bonds against the Financial Party Targets, including on theories of fraudulent transfer, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and/or deepening insolvency.

So far so good, until we turn to paragraph 18 of the stipulation;

During the meet and confer process with respect to the joint prosecution of claims and causes of action of the Commonwealth and the allocation of litigation responsibilities, the Committee requested that the Oversight Board pursue Commonwealth claims or causes of action (the “Additional Claims”), in addition to those to be asserted by the Oversight Board or the Special Claims Committee, related to or with respect to the offerings of the Commonwealth’s GO bonds, PBA bonds, and ERS bonds against the Financial Party Targets, including on theories of fraudulent transfer, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and/or deepening insolvency. The Special Claims Committee declined to assert the Additional Claims. Therefore, the Committee requested that, as part of this Stipulation, the Oversight Board consent to the Committee being appointed as sole trustee/plaintiff to commence adversary proceedings or lawsuits to pursue the Additional Claims, with the same meet and confer process, and the potential for Court intervention, as set forth in paragraph 13 above (i.e., that the Parties would meet and confer after commencement of the adversary proceeding, and, in the case of disagreement, the Oversight Board would have the ability to seek, by motion to this Court, upon notice and a hearing, to terminate the Committee’s appointment as sole trustee/plaintiff in such adversary proceeding upon a showing of good cause). The Special Claims Committee declined to consent to this request; however, the Parties agreed that, notwithstanding this Stipulation, the Committee may seek, by motion to the Court, to be appointed as trustee/plaintiff to pursue the Additional Claims … (Bold added)

This motion was opposed by certain ERS bondholders, claiming that the “there is a sharp conflict of interest between the UCC, on one hand, and the creditors and the ERS, on the other, due to the pending litigation between the Commonwealth and ERS’ secured creditors over the Commonwealth’s siphoning of ERS assets to the Commonwealth through the Post-Petition Legislation.”  National, also objected but went further:

 The Oversight Board, not the Committee, is the appropriate party to evaluate and bring debtor causes of action against non-Debtors. The Stipulation would permit the Committee to override the Oversight Board’s judgment with its own. Through the Section 926 Motion it filed this morning the Committee affirmatively seeks to supplant the FOMB’s judgment with its own. The Court should not allow this to occur.

 National has serious concerns over whether the Committee is the proper representative of the Commonwealth or any other Debtor in these causes of action. It is unclear what interests the Committee currently represents; i.e., whether the Committee members currently hold outstanding, unpaid prepetition claims against the Commonwealth, HTA or PREPA and, even if they do hold such claims, that the parochial interests of certain members are not otherwise represented.

Neither the Oversight Board nor the Committee is the appropriate party to evaluate and bring debtor causes of action on behalf of or against other Debtors (e.g., HTA and PREPA) because they are hopelessly conflicted by virtue of the fact that they sit on both sides of the action and/or do not have a vested interest in vigorously pursuing such causes of action because their recoveries are not at stake.

The Ad Hoc GO Bondholder Group, later joined by Oppenheimer Funds, also raised several technical objections, but also one of great importance:

These specific references to the UCC’s reservation of its rights to object or respond to any settlement agreed to by the Oversight Board or Special Claims Committee could arguably give rise to a negative implication that the rights of other parties in interest are not so preserved. Such a negative implication would plainly be inappropriate. The GO Group therefore respectfully requests that the Stipulation be modified to make clear that the objection rights of all parties in interest are reserved with respect to the settlement or compromise of all causes of action governed by the Stipulation.

Assured and Ambac also opposed the Board/UCC motion, stating, inter alia:

HTA and its creditors hold substantial causes of action against the Commonwealth and certain of its instrumentalities on account of the illegal diversion of excise taxes assigned to HTA and its creditors by Commonwealth law. Because FOMB and the UCC have both actively supported this diversion of revenues, and because FOMB and AAFAF have admitted that this diversion has rendered HTA insolvent and unable to pay its creditors (not merely bond claims), it would be manifestly inappropriate for the UCC, FOMB, or the Special Claims Committee to serve as plaintiffs or co-trustees with respect to such causes of action. These entities indisputably suffer from debilitating conflicts of interest that call into question how they could even pursue claims by HTA against the Commonwealth. As just one of many possible examples, the UCC—which indisputably is dominated by entities with putative claims against the Commonwealth—cannot be expected to take a position on the Commonwealth’s diversion of HTA revenues and whether such a diversion is avoidable.

The Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition filed a short reservation of rights stating that it was supportive but:

Given the extremely shortened notice on which the Motion was filed, however, the LCDC has had only limited time to review the Stipulation, and has not yet had an opportunity to discuss its potential ramifications or application with the Movants. Accordingly, in an abundance of caution, the LCDC files this limited objection to ensure that nothing in the Stipulation (i) modifies in any way the application of Section 1123(b) of the United States Bankruptcy Code to any plan of adjustment or any Commonwealth Cause of Action, including the ability to create a litigation trust to continue to pursue or commence Commonwealth Causes of Action, or (ii) impairs creditors’ rights to object to the manner in which any Commonwealth Causes of Action are addressed under a plan of adjustment. To the extent that the Stipulation does so, the LCDC hereby objects to its entry.

On April 17, 2019, before 9:00 am, the UCC filed a motion for Order Authorizing Committee to Pursue Certain Causes of Action on Behalf of Commonwealth and Granting Related Relief. And it was a bomb, saying at pages 3-4:

The Special Claims Committee provided its preliminary list to the Committee as required. That preliminary list indicated that the Special Claims Committee would be pursuing a number of the Causes of Action. In the ensuing meet and confer, the Special Claims Committee, through its counsel, “doubled down” on this representation, stressing that causes of action relating to the bond issuances would also be brought against individuals. On April 12, 2019,4 counsel provided the final list required pursuant to the Procedural Order, which confirmed that a number of the Causes of Action would be pursued.

 The Special Claims Committee represented through its counsel that it would assert claims based on, among other theories, deepening insolvency against the various parties involved in Puerto Rico’s debt offerings. The Special Claims Committee’s counsel further stated that it would allow the Committee to join in litigation against these parties to pursue such claims against them. As the meet and confer period continued, however, counsel for the Special Claims Committee gradually reversed course. First, counsel advised the Committee that the Special Claims Committee would not, after all, bring claims against any individuals. Next, counsel revealed that [REDACTED SPACE]. Finally, the Special Claims Committee reneged on its offer to allow the Committee to bring such claims. Notwithstanding these setbacks, the Committee continued its discussions with the Oversight Board and its Special Claims Committee.

At page 5, footnote 6, the UCC states “[i]n particular, the Committee understands that (a) the Special Claims Committee will not pursue any claims against any individuals involved in the Puerto Rico’s bond issuances and (b)[REDACTED].” At page 6, the motion states:

In sum, the Oversight Board’s Special Claims Committee waited until approximately two weeks before the Causes of Action Deadline to advise the Committee that it intended to abandon certain valuable Causes of Action (some of which it had previously represented it would pursue) and then declined the Committee’s request to be appointed to pursue these Causes of Action. Faced with this abrupt and unexpected turn of events, the Movants had no choice but to file this Motion requesting authorization for the Committee to pursue the Causes of Action on the Commonwealth’s behalf.

In other words, the UCC was duped into believing all was going to be done the way it wanted but then the Board changed its mind. Considering that the Commonwealth’s actions must be filed on or before May 2 and that the Board has not made a good showing for an equitable tolling, this is major stuff. The UCC also requested and obtained leave to file an unredacted motion under seal.

On April 19, 2019, the Board opposed the UCC’s request for section 926 appointment. It started its argument by saying:

Notwithstanding the Committee’s failure to show that its Motion is in any party’s best interest, the Motion fails on a fundamental gating issue. PROMESA absolutely prohibits the Court from interfering with the property of the Commonwealth without the consent of the Oversight Board. This is “notwithstanding any power of the court” granted by elements of the Bankruptcy Code that are incorporated into PROMESA. Litigation claims held by the Commonwealth are property of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth simply has not consented, and will not consent, to allow the Committee the right to pursue any claims except as provided in the Joint Stipulation. Thus, respectfully, this Court cannot permit the Committee to pursue any other claims.

This is a clear reference to section 305 of PROMESA, but the section has a caveat, subject to Title I and Title XX of PROMESA. In other words, the Board could consent to this if it wanted. This was Judge Swain’s view in the PREPA lift stay decision. Also, In re N.Y. City Off-Track Betting Corp., No. 09-17121(MG), 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 319, at *17 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2011) the Court determined that the “contention that section 904 prohibits a court from appointing a trustee without the consent of the debtor renders section 926 mere surplusage.” Section 305 of PROMESA comes from section 904 of the Bankruptcy Code. Also, Bankruptcy section 926 legislative history supports this view:

[B]ecause a municipality might, by reason of political pressure or desire for future good relations with a particular creditor or class of creditors, make payments to such creditors in the days preceding the petition to the detriment of all other creditors. No change in the elected officials of such a city would automatically occur upon filing of the petition, and it might be very awkward for those same officials to turn around and demand the return of payments following the filing of the petition. Hence, the need for a trustee for such purpose. (See, S. Rep. No. 95-989, at 68 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5787, 5795)

The Board also objects saying that no “draft complaint” or “bullet point summary” was provided of the causes of action. True, but neither did the Board do so in the stipulated motion for the UCC’s appointment, presumably for confidentiality purposes. Moreover, if requested, I am sure the UCC may file a long list of whom it wants to sue and for what. The Board’s motion continues stating:

In fact, as the Committee was advised in black and white, the SCC intend to pursue on behalf of the Oversight Board claims against dozens of parties including underwriters, bond counsel, disclosure counsel, tax counsel, swap counterparties, auditors, and remarketing agents for their respective roles in issuing bonds that are the subject to contentions of being null and void.11 Furthermore, these parties will be pursued under many legal theories including breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting such breaches, professional malpractice/negligence, unjust enrichment and/or fraudulent transfer.12 Given the scope and magnitude of the claims and causes of action that the SCC has advised the Committee it will pursue, it is difficult to understand exactly what the Committee hopes to gain by bringing additional claims (which they have not defined) on theories that are purely speculative. Rather, the Committee appears to be hoping to pressure individuals to implicate other parties in the hope that some real claim or cause of action eventually will come to light.

 As best as the Objectors can discern, the Committee has long favored actual fraud and conspiracy-based claims, seeking recovery for deepening insolvency as a stand-alone cause of action against many of the same institutions that the SCC has already committed to pursue as well as certain unnamed individuals.13 Again, these same or similar theories were raised in the past by the Committee which, it should be noted, has done nothing to investigate the merits of its theories in the many months since they were first articulated.

 In the end, the Objectors do not believe the Committee’s theories are colorable or that their prosecution would be cost-effective or yield greater recoveries for the Commonwealth than the claims the Objectors already intend to pursue. . .

 Most recently, the Objectors gave the Committee a full download of the claims the SCC intends to bring, consenting to add the Committee as co-plaintiff and co-trustee. Despite the spirit of compromise that is reflected in the Joint Stipulation, ultimately, the Objectors could not conclude that the theories of liability espoused by the Committee were sound and the Objectors were not prepared to allow the Committee to expend estate resources on claims that it does not believe are likely to enhance recoveries for the Commonwealth. (Bold added)

Here we see the “justification” of the Board, to wit, its attorneys do not believe the causes of action championed by the UCC will not succeed or will bring little money to the pot. This certainly may be true but the UCC could be allowed to bring the causes of action subject to success and payment via section 316(a) of PROMESA, which specifically contemplates section 926 appointments and payments.

The Board’s motion continues criticizing the UCC’s claims, which had been previously dismissed as not being detailed. True, but if they are not detailed, you can’t complain they don’t comply with federal pleading rules. Finally, the motion states that “[n]owhere in the Motion does the Committee state that it believes the Commonwealth would have an ability to collect material amounts in damages from any of its contemplated targets, or that revenge is an appropriate motive for a bankruptcy trustee to expend estate resources in litigation.” Again, this could be handled by tying the UCC’s compensation to the recovery of funds. I have been hired by bankruptcy trustees in more than one occasion to recover moneys for the estate on a contingency fee basis. Something similar can be done, here. Moreover, since the UCC implies causes of action against banks, Board members could have a conflict of interest and as the ERS bondholders argue in other motions, a conflict of interest is a good reason for the appointment of a section 926 trustee.

AAFAF also filed an opposition, echoing the same arguments made by the Board. There is no reason AAFAF should be siding with the Board, in my view.

Aside from the Board and AAFAF, other parties filed oppositions on April 20, 2019. National filed technical objections and states:

The Committee has filed a sweeping and overbroad motion requesting relief that would give the Committee unfettered authority over claims and causes of action. The lack of transparency in the Motion leaves parties in interest without a full understating of the scope of the requested relief. It is difficult to fully evaluate the legal ramifications of the Motion because National simply does not have any visibility into what avoidance actions or other undefined “causes of actions” the Committee plans to pursue. National has no way to know how the Motion will affect its recoveries or legal rights. Indeed, granting the requested relief may have a significant impact on the Commonwealth’s ability to reach a global settlement with its creditors—presumably, the Oversight Board has or will exercise its judgment in determining that the Causes of Action should not be pursued, which is a decision that ultimately impacts settlements embodied in a proposed plan. Granting the relief requested in the Motion would permit the Committee to second guess that judgment and give the Committee undue leverage in plan negotiations with other creditors and the Oversight Board.

The Official Committee of Retired Employees of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico filed a limited objection, exhorting the Court to grant the tolling motion by the Board and if not:

In the event the Court denies the Tolling Motion, the Trustee Motion should be granted but only with the addition of certain procedural safeguards. Specifically, the UCC should be allowed to file solely its identified avoidance-action Causes of Action, since only avoidance actions are subject to appointment of a trustee under Bankruptcy Code section 926(a) (and only avoidance actions are subject to the urgency of the statute of limitations under section 546(a)). Further, the filing of such actions should be subject to this Court subsequently making findings through a structured process that the FOMB’s refusal to bring the Causes of Action was not motivated by reasonable and appropriate considerations but “by reason of political pressure or desire for future good relations with a particular creditor or class of creditors”—the scenario Congress envisioned requiring the appointment of a trustee when it created section 926(a). S. Rep. No. 95-989, at 111 (1978). In addition, to ensure that only material claims are brought, the Court should require that any Cause of Action brought seek the avoidance of at least $25 million in alleged transfers or at least $25 million in alleged damages for non-avoidance Causes of Action (or some similar materiality threshold as the Court determines appropriate), from a set of defendants that can reasonably be expected to satisfy such a judgment.

Oppenheimer Funds also filed an objection echoing the Board and AAFAF’s arguments. Ambac filed a limited objection, agreeing with the UCC as to the filing of the causes of action but said:

At the same time, however, Ambac objects to the Committee’s Motion because the Committee is the wrong entity to prosecute the Causes of Action. The parties most directly impacted by the challenged debt issuances are not the relatively small-dollar creditors that the Committee has added as movants as a means of addressing the fact that the Committee itself is not a “creditor” within the meaning of Section 926(a), and thus likely may not serve as a trustee under that provision. Rather, the parties most directly impacted by the challenged debt issuances are the holders and/or insurers of bonds that were issued in earlier years with proper constitutional authority. Debt service on those challenged bonds—and monies that were paid to financial and other professionals in connection therewith—are funds that would have been available for other purposes, preventing (or at least mitigating) the catastrophic bond defaults that have occurred since 2016 and caused Ambac alone to pay tens of millions of dollars in claims on its applicable financial guaranty insurance policies (with no end in sight). This is especially so with respect to vintage bonds that Ambac insures and owns, including pre-2012 GO bonds, pre-2009 PBA bonds, and revenue bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority, and Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, to which Ambac has a collective exposure exceeding $1 billion. The Committee and its constituent members seeking trustee status and/or derivative standing are not remotely comparable in terms of their motivation to pursue the Causes of Action to their appropriate conclusion.

Oppenheimer requests the denial of the UCC’s motion but if granted, requested from Judge Swain the following:

In the alternative, should the Court conclude that appointment of the Committee as trustee/derivative plaintiff is proper, it should do so without prejudice to creditors’ rights to move to intervene as co-plaintiff, seek appointment as co-trustee, or otherwise join in the prosecution of the Causes of Action. Such a structure would have the added benefit of ameliorating “Aurelius risk”—i.e., the possibility that the acts of the Oversight Board following the First Circuit’s decision in Aurelius Investment LLC v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, No. 18-1761, including the acts of any statutory committee prosecuting claims on the Debtor’s behalf, might be undone, with valuable claims being lost in the process.

Complications upon complications. Assured and Financial Guaranty also filed objections on April 20, 2019. They essentially say that the statutes cited by the UCC do not provide the UCC with a remedy. Could be but my worry is that valid causes of action may be otherwise lost if the motion is not granted. The UCC will probably file a reply some time on Monday April 22. We will know on Wednesday what is the Court’s opinion.

On Thursday, April 18, 2019, Judge Swain heard argument on the original motion and stipulation between the Board and the UCC. She seems inclined to grant the motion, asked the parties to come to an agreement and if not, she will rule during the Omnibus. I am sure she will grant it. Not sure what she will do with the UCC’s motion.

Finally, the Association of University Professors and individual UPR retirees, filed an adversary proceeding and requested the Court issue the following:

enter a Declaratory Judgment decreeing that any oversight act by the Oversight Board in relation to the University of Puerto Rico Retirement System is null and void;

 grant injunctive relief staying any involvement of the Oversight Board with the operation and benefits of the Retirement System;

 enter a Declaratory Judgment decreeing that the Governing Board cannot obey the instructions of the Oversight Board regarding the Retirement System;

 grant injective relieve staying further compliance of the Governing Board with the instructions of the Oversight Board regarding the Retirement System;

 order the Governing Board to comply with Certification 146 (2014-2015);

 order the University of Puerto Rico to repay any loss or depreciation of trust property and any profit made by trustee resulting from the breach of fiduciary duties of the Governing Board, and any profit that would have accrued to the trust property if there

The complaint has a few good points. Although PROMESA supersedes any Commonwealth law, including the Puerto Rico Constitution (see Judge Lynch’s opinion in the Legislature decision), I don’t think a Board order is sufficient to stop the UPR’s requirement to comply with the local law. Of course, the Board may sidestep all this by sending the UPR into Title III as it has intimated in the past. Let’s see what happens.

In other news, the Board announced that it expects the Commonwealth to begin paying debt by fiscal year 2020-21, which begins on July 1, 2020, little over a year from now. Given everything that is going on, I doubt very much the plan of adjustment will be approved by then or that the Government of PR will want to pay anything more than a token of what it owes.

Today there are 22 days remaining for the appointment of the new Board. President Trump has failed to send any names to Congress, even though it seems he will re-nominate the current members. Let’s see what happens.

Finally, with deep regret I am announcing that I will file my last Monday Update on April 29, 2019. As you all know, I have been providing this newsletter to keep those interested abreast of what is going on in PROMESA but it has gotten so complicated that I am spending many, many hours doing it. Hence, my next Monday update will be my last. I will keep the website open for a while and maybe I will occasionally inform you of momentous happenings in the PROMESA litigation. Perhaps.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for April 15, 2019. This was a busy week.

On Monday, April 8, 2019, and as part of the effort to justify its lack of effort to file causes of action against all possible invalid bonds, the Board filed an urgent motion for entry of an order under bankruptcy rules 1007(i) and 2004 authorizing discovery and compelling disclosure of lists of security holders. The UCC filed a motion in support of the request. The motion is directed to several banks, including Bank of NY Mellon, Bank of America and others to obtain information on the past payment of GO bonds. This is part of the insane effort to claw back amounts paid on the allegedly illegal bonds issued by Puerto Rico. Later in the week, U.S. Bank National Association and U.S. Bank Trust National Association filed an objection to this motion’s timetable and the confidentiality of the information sought. Bank of NY Mellon filed a much stronger opposition and said;

The Motion ignores legal requirements that compel BNYM to maintain the confidentiality of the information the Oversight Board seeks by this Motion. Nor does the Oversight Board allow for a necessary process by which BNYM can provide its customers with notice and an opportunity to object to the Oversight Board’s request. These failings alone warrant the denial of the motion. . .

This Court should deny the motion. Alternatively, and in light of the various legal claims that might be asserted against BNYM for complying with the Oversight Board’s request should this Court grant the motion and order BNYM to produce some or all of the requested information, as well as the financial expense BNYM will incur in collecting and producing the information, BNYM needs this Court’s protection. The Court should provide in any Order that:

(1) No action taken by BNYM pursuant to or in compliance with such order shall subject BNYM to any liability whatsoever;

(2) BNYM shall, prior to producing documents to the Oversight Board, notify its customers of the request to disclose their information and provide reasonable time for customers to object to the production, or, in the event that the Court does not grant BNYM’s request to notify its customers of, and/or to serve its customers with, the Court’s Order, then BNYM is relieved from any obligation to so notify and/or serve its customers, for good cause shown;

(3) The Oversight Board shall indemnify and hold BNYM harmless against any claims, whether direct or indirect, arising from BNYM’s compliance with the Court’s Order;

(4) The deadline for BNYM to comply is no earlier than April 30, 2019, which deadline may be extended for reasonable cause, and BNYM shall not be subject to sanctions for any failure to meet such deadline if it is attempting in good faith to comply;

(5) The Oversight Board shall maintain the confidentiality and security of any customer information BNYM produces in response to the discovery request; and

(6) The Oversight Board must bear the fees, costs, and expenses, including, without limitation, the fees and costs of internal and external counsel, research costs, and production costs, for conducting the requested search and production.

In addition, Bank of America filed an objection, also requesting payment or sharing of costs and stated;

The Oversight Board’s requested Rule 2004 discovery is premature at best, unduly burdensome and potentially unnecessary, as it may be obviated (a) by the adjudication of the Joint Claim Objection, ERS Bond Objection, and Ad Hoc Objection (collectively, the “Bond Objections”), and (b) at least in part by the information received from DTC which the Oversight Board “expects [] will identify with reasonable accuracy” certain of the Participant Holders. The Oversight Board acknowledges that its request is premature, by stating in its Motion that its need to identify the holders of Challenged Bonds is “depend[ent] on the outcome of the Joint Claim Objection, ERS Bond Objection and Ad Hoc Objection.” See Motion ¶ 3. Furthermore, should the Court rule in the Oversight Board’s favor and grant the relief sought in the Equitable Tolling Motion, the Oversight Board’s relief requested here would not be urgent or necessary at this time.

Moreover, the Oversight Board’s overbroad and patently burdensome requests in the Motion exceed the scope of Rule 2004. Instead of utilizing the discovery expected from DTC to narrow by date and purported holder its overly broad requests to BANA, the Oversight Board’s discovery requests relate to multiple BANA entities, seeking information pertaining to what could be thousands of transactions, contained on what could be different platforms and/or systems at BANA and/or another Bank of America entity. Indeed, at this stage, BANA has not yet been able to confirm that BANA is the correct repository and/or entity for the information sought. The information sought is expected to take significant time to identify and retrieve, let alone review with an eye for production. 

The objections on confidentiality and costs are very valid and may force Judge Swain to establish procedures for payment and even for notice of the clients subject to the search to see if they want to object. This will further delay proceedings, which may be the reason for the filing of the motion, i.e., to bolster the tolling request by the Board to the SCOTUS. Speaking of said motion, the oppositions began. Andalusian Global Designated Activity Company and others, all ERS bondholders, represented by Jones Day’s Bruce Bennett stated in their opposition:

It has been over twenty-two months since the Board commenced Title III proceedings on behalf of ERS. The Board has therefore nearly exhausted the two-year period that Congress provided for the commencement of avoidance actions under the Bankruptcy Code. See 11 U.S.C. § 546(a); see also 48 U.S.C. §2161(a) (rendering § 546 applicable to Title III proceedings). In all this time, the Board has done essentially nothing to investigate or pursue possible avoidance actions against holders of ERS Bonds. In fact, the Board admits it has not even determined what information it needs to identify the historic owners of ERS Bonds, much less begun the process of obtaining that information. See Motion ¶ 48.

 The sole avoidance action against ERS Bondholders that the Board addresses in its motion is based on the argument that ERS’s issuance of its ERS Bonds was an ultra vires act. Yet the Board’s extreme delay in raising this claim is not because the Board only just learned of this theory. In fact—while the Board emphasizes that the Unsecured Creditors Committee (the “Committee”) only recently filed a claim objection to the ERS Bonds on this basis—the Board fails to inform the Court that this very ultra vires argument was first raised and briefed in November 2017 in two adversary proceedings to which the Board itself is a party. Yet the Board inexplicably did nothing in the intervening seventeen months to investigate this argument or pursue related avoidance actions.

You may remember on my last entry on April 1, I mentioned the several motions by the UCC requesting discovery on these issues and time and again the Board and the Court said stop. What will Judge Swain will do is anyone’s guess but there is clear evidence of the Board’s lack of interest in these actions. If Judge Swain agrees to the extension, as I believe she will, then those affected will have to wait to a case being filed against them, or at best, an appeal to the First Circuit, which has not been kind to her rulings.

All this has other implications. It seems the Trump administration is poised, sometime, to re-nominate present Board members to a three-year term. Should the President do this given the Board’s lack of interest in the Commonwealth’s causes of action? Can Democrats and leaders like Chairman Raul Grijalva support the current Board if they have ignored suing BPPR and Santander, among other banks, for their involvement in Puerto Rico’s debt? After all, Chairman Carrión and Carlos Garcia benefited from the actions of their respective banks. This is not me speaking, the UCC since early summer of 2017 has been insisting in conducting discovery on these issues but has stymied by the Board and the Court. Has the Board shown any respect to the “the relative lawful priorities or lawful liens, as may be applicable, in the constitution, other laws, or agreements of a covered territory or covered territorial instrumentality in effect prior to the date of enactment of this Act” as per section 201(b)(1)(N) of PROMESA? Has it instituted the structural changes that Puerto Rico needs as per sections 201(b)(1)(F) and 405(m)(4) of PROMESA? We must remember that it has failed to define essential services, which is the first step in ensuring “the funding of essential public services” as per section 201(b)(1)(B) of PROMESA? Any observer of the Board’s acts and omissions would have to say no. As of today, 31 days remain of the 90-day period provided by the First Circuit. What will happen is anyone’s guess.

The Ad Hoc Group of GO Bondholders filed a limited objection to Mr. Peter Hein’s request for an official Committee for GO’s. The motion states:

In the GO Group’s view, Mr. Hein’s alternative request—for the appointment of a committee comprising both small and large holders of GO Bonds—would more appropriately address the important concerns he has identified than would the appointment of a committee representing only bondholders with more modest holdings. As a matter of statute, the ordinary approach for formation of official committees is that the largest claimholders are selected as members. Legally, the claims of small and large GO Bondholders are the same. Moreover, a more broadly defined membership would help to ensure that the new committee possesses a diversity of perspectives and should also allow the committee to take advantage of the expertise that larger holders of GO Bonds have developed over the course of this matter. Indeed, Mr. Hein himself implicitly acknowledges the value of that expertise by noting (Memo. 7) that any new official committee “should coordinate with the efforts of major holders and their ad hoc committees.”

 Mr. Hein’s Motion is premised on the assumption that a “commonality of interests” among all GO Bondholders should lead them to vigorously resist efforts to invalidate their claims. Memo. 7. Recent experience, however, suggests that this assumption may be mistaken. For some GO Bondholders, with holdings weighted toward unchallenged GO Bonds, a shortsighted pursuit of a more favorable recovery may lead them to join with the Oversight Board and the UCC in their meritless attempt to jettison the Commonwealth’s binding commitments to (certain of) its bondholders. The GO Group therefore respectfully submits that the membership of any official committee representing GO Bondholders should be limited to those individuals and institutions with holdings of GO Bonds weighted toward the series of GO Bonds that the Oversight Board and UCC have targeted for invalidation—either expressly or implicitly. While some modest degree of cross-holdings should be permitted, the U.S. Trustee should be directed to ensure that the committee’s membership is consistent with its mission of facilitating GO Bondholders’ defense to the Selective Claim Objection. (Bold added)

The Board opposed the Hein motion and stated:

First, consistent with the Court’s findings attendant to prior requests, adequate representation of the interests of GO Bondholders, as defined below, is provided through the zealous representation of GO Bondholders by ad hoc groups formed over the past two years. Second, appointment to the UCC would disrupt the Title III process and present a direct conflict. Specifically, as the UCC is party to the GO Related Objection, as defined below, having GO Bondholders seated on the UCC would generate internal conflicts and cause paralysis.

 The UCC also filed an opposition for similar reasons. As I have said in the past, I doubt Judge Swain will appoint such a Committee but it is important to note the mention of “a shortsighted pursuit of a more favorable recovery” in the Ad Hoc Group which is a clear reference to the newly formed Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition, which (more on this latter) has thrown the gauntlet to challenge the 2012 and 2014 GO bonds. Since the Lawful Constitutional Debt group is represented by the same firm which successfully negotiated the Senior COFINA deal, one has to wonder if their stance in the GO litigation has to do with that advantageous deal.

In a motion that passed without notice by the local press, the Puerto Rico Funds, bondholders of ERS, filed a motion to vacate the appointment of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Title III case. The reasons is alleged conflict of interests:

By design, the Post-Petition Legislation effectively turned the Commonwealth into ERS’s creditor. The UCC’s members are almost exclusively composed of unsecured creditors of the Commonwealth, and none are creditors of ERS. This creates a real and impermissible conflict of interest because the UCC cannot properly represent both ERS creditors and Commonwealth creditors at the same time—as the assets and future income ERS would use to pay its creditors were stripped and sent to the Commonwealth, which will use those same assets to pay its own creditors. As such, each member of the UCC has a significant conflict of interest with the unsecured creditors of ERS, whose interests the UCC is charged to represent.

 To make matters worse, the UCC does not adequately represent ERS unsecured creditors because not a single UCC member filed a claim against ERS. Moreover, the ERS unsecured creditors, consisting of a significant amount of retirees and pensioners, already have adequate representation through the statutory Retiree Committee (defined below), making the UCC duplicative and unnecessary for the ERS case. For these reasons and as set forth herein, the Court should vacate the appointment of the UCC as the creditors’ committee in the ERS case.

This motion shows the high stakes in the ERS bond litigation. The UCC is challenging these bonds as illegally issued and the PR Funds is going against the legitimacy of the UCC as to ERS. Although the motion has merit, we have to examine the UCC’s response and in any event, I doubt Judge Swain would grant this motion.

The PR Funds also filed a limited objection to the “Motion of Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, Under Bankruptcy Code Sections 105(a) and 502 and Bankruptcy Rule 3007, Establishing Procedures with respect to Objections to Claims Asserted by Holders of Bonds Issued by Employees Retirement System of Government of Puerto Rico and Requesting Related Relief.” The motion requests the Court hold in abeyance the UCC’s motion until it decides the vacatur motion as to the Committee. Again, procedural tactics in this high stakes litigation.

Ambac filed its position as to the objections to claims filed by the Board and the UCC. It argues that the PBA leases are true leases, not disguised financings but believes the bonds should be included in the constitutional debt limit calculation. The motion, however, reserves Ambac’s right to settle claims while at the same time it claims the Board and the UCC “are motivated by different interests and objectives in the Title III cases. In particular, they may have different views on whether, and on what terms, to compromise or dismiss the GO Claim Objection.” In a similar vein, the Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition filed its position also stating that PBA bonds are valid leases but that they must be included in the debt ceiling calculation. The Coalition also states that the 2012 and 2014 GO bonds are invalid but deviates from the Board and UCC position by saying “[w]hether or not such GO bonds and guarantees have any allowable claim, they clearly are not entitled to any lawful priority under Commonwealth law.” At footnote 19, it also states “The LCDC submits that any dispute concerning the appropriate remedy, if any, for holders of unlawful 2012 and 2014 GO bonds and guarantees should be deferred until the appropriate court determines the proper construction of the Commonwealth Constitution-a pure question of Commonwealth law.” (bold added, more on this later)

The Coalition also filed an objection to the Ad Hoc GO’s request for procedures (docket 6104), and state:

By the Conditional Procedures Motion, the GO Group asks the Court and hundreds of creditors to undertake an unnecessary months-long process for litigating its Conditional PBA Claims Objection, an objection that seems more interested in influencing public opinion than presenting a justiciable case or controversy.

The Coalition wants the litigation to be divided in two, to wit, (a) litigation involving the interpretation of the Constitutional debt limit and (b) a determination of what remedies, if any, that holders of the 2012 and 2014 may have against the Commonwealth. Interestingly, at footnote 18 of this motion, the Coalition states that during the first phase “parties may wish to move the Court to certify the issue of the interpretation of the Puerto Rico Constitution to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. If so, the Court may consider whether certification is warranted and appropriate under the circumstances.” (bold added) What does this mean? Two things, as I have argued, the invalidation of GO bonds does not mean there is no debt as per the Puerto Rico Civil Code. Second, the Coalition is giving notice that, as I have mentioned in the past, the Board and UCC objections to the GO’s is purely a Commonwealth law dispute. The attorneys for the Coalition were the same attorneys who joined Bettina Whyte in requesting that the District Court certify to Puerto Rico Supreme Court several issues (see, COFINA docket 332). Hence, we will soon see a motion to certify the questions to the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which has merit but would deprive the District Court of control over this important litigation. Food for thought.

The Coalition also objected to the Board’s motion to toll the statute of limitations, calling it “inappropriate, unjustified and ill-timed.” The motion argues that the tolling must be used sparingly, that the Board has not “undertaken the requisite due diligence necessary for invoking” the doctrine and that it “has not identified any ‘extraordinary circumstance” beyond its control that made it impossible to filed the Challenged Bond Avoidance Actions.” The QTCB Noteholder Group filed a motion for reservation of rights as to the tolling, agreeing to a six-month tolling but not to any further extension.

The Commonwealth and HTA had agreed to extend time to file avoidance claims but FGIC filed a limited objection. It believes that HTA has avoidance claims against the Commonwealth and wants to be part of the stipulation. The Board said no and hence the objection. The UCC also filed an objection and said:

The Stipulation—which the Oversight Board negotiated and filed without consulting at all with, or even providing advance notice to, the Committee—tolls the time in which avoidance actions must be brought by the Commonwealth against the HTA, or vice versa. That aspect of the Stipulation is obviously not problematic. Critically, however, the Stipulation also allows the Commonwealth or the HTA—but only the Commonwealth or the HTA—to terminate, or indefinitely extend, the tolling period, including the No Suit Provision. Moreover, the Stipulation provides that it is binding on “any trustee which may be appointed pursuant to section 926 of the Bankruptcy Code.” In other words, while ostensibly engaging in a meet and confer process with the Committee as required by the Procedures Order, the Oversight Board was simultaneously agreeing to a Stipulation that effects exactly the result the Committee, in those same negotiations, had advised was unacceptable. . .

 At the very least, the Court should not decide whether it is appropriate to approve a Stipulation that binds a Section 926 Trustee and allows the Debtors and/or the Oversight Board to indefinitely extend a tolling agreement until there is clarity as to how the section 926 process will unfold and whether, as stated in the Joint Motion, the Committee and the Oversight Board are able to reach a consensual resolution obviating the need for any Section 926 Motion.

The section 926 issue is important. The UCC has informed the Court it may ask to be appointed as trustee under said section to pursue actions that the Board may not want to take. The Committee asked for an extension until today to file such a motion. This undoubtedly will bring conflict with the Board.

In PREPA, the Board and some monolines agreed to further extend the time for the lift stay hearing, having come to certain agreements but Syncora and National objected. Judge Swain extended the period since she prefers everything to be settled, as every judge I know prefers. The hearing, if actually undertaken, is set for May 29, 2019. Another issue to be presented to the SCOTUS when the Board requests a stay on the First Circuit Aurelius decision.

Also, PREPA bondholders filed an urgent motion objecting a privilege log and lack of timely production of documents and seeking “for an immediate status conference, to take place on Friday, April 12, 2019, or on the earliest other date and time that the Court can reasonably accommodate.” Obviously, the Board opposed the motion. Finally, PR Senate Bill 1121 was signed by the Governor, the public energy policy. As an example, we will have 40% renewable energy by 2025. If you believe that one, I have a little bridge in Brooklyn you can buy.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for April 8, 2019. This was a busy week.

On Monday, April 1, 2019, Judge Dein listened to arguments on discovery disputes in the ERS case. It seems she was not happy with the Board and its attorneys and their objections were mostly denied. Judge Dein ordered that the parties meet and resolve disputes. On Friday, April 5, a stipulation was filed by AAFAF, the Board and ERS bondholders purportedly resolving most of the disputes. This discovery dispute is part of the ERS bondholders request to be named Trustee of the agency. Difficult, but we will see.

On Tuesday, the Ad Hoc Group of General Obligation Bondholders filed a “Conditional Objection” to “Claims Filed Or Asserted By The Public Buildings Authority, Holders Of Public Buildings Authority Bonds, And Holders Of Certain Commonwealth General Obligation Bonds.” This objection states that the Board and UCC’s objections are wrong BUT, if they are right, they have to sue many other groups of bonds since the claims in the objection are also valid for a series of bonds. The statement is totally true and I assume was intended to put pressure on the Board to stop its actions since the statute of limitations runs out for the Commonwealth on May 2, 2019. That same day, however, the Board filed a motion requesting the equitable tolling of the statute of limitations for actions against bonds and intimated that it could included other GO, PBA, ERS, HTA bonds, among others.

The Board, quoting Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 418 (2005), states that “[f]or those statutes of limitation to which equitable tolling applies, a litigant who seeks tolling must establish at least two elements: (1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstances stood in his way.” The motion makes a very self-serving discourse of the Board’s actions, which is not exactly true. I explain.

On May 2, 2017, the Board authorized the Commonwealth to file for Title III protection. This means that the possibility had been considered for months before and Proskauer Rose, the Board’s attorneys, were hired on November 25, 2016. Moreover, Proskauer was not a stranger to the Commonwealth Government for it has contracts with Puerto Rico in the García Padilla administration and allegedly was the author of the Recovery Act that was invalidated by the District Court, Appellate Court and later the Supreme Court.

More importantly, as any seasoned bankruptcy lawyer knows, one of the first things you start looking into a case is what causes of action, if any, there are for in the fog of litigation, the two-year statute of limitations runs out quickly. Given this, did the Board diligently pursue the claims? Not really. As I mentioned, the Commonwealth Title III was filed on May 2, 2019. During May, June and July of 2017, not a peep from the Board on any causes of action to be filed. The first time the issue comes out is on July 21, 2017 motion, not by the Board but by the UCC, who argued that there were causes of action against, among others, Banco Popular Securities and Santander Securities and requested leave to conduct discovery via Rule 2004 of the Bankruptcy Rules.  On July 28, 2017, Santander and BPPR filed oppositions and on July 31, 2017, AAFAF also filed objections. All three argued that the Board was entrusted under PROMESA to do so, which is true BUT, there had been no attempt to do at the time. On August 3, 2017, the Board filed its opposition claiming it had the right to do so under PROMESA. On August 2, 2017, it had announced a request for proposals for the investigation, on August 8, 2017 created a special committee for said claims and on September 13, 2017, hired Kobre and Kim to conduct it. The Board’s tolling motion does not mention the UCC’s motions questioning the methods of Kobre and Kim, the lack of access to documentation, the limitations on the access to said documents and the fact that the interviews conducted were no under oath. In fact, many of the “extraordinary circumstances” claimed by the Board were foreseen by the UCC in the several motions it filed on said investigation. Seems to me that any opponent to the Board’s motion can find a lot more detail on these “circumstances” than the one’s I can recollect. In fact, the Board’s motion, at page 8, paragraph 23, states:

The Final Report [of Kobre & Kim] was not intended to identify Avoidance Actions and other potential claims the Commonwealth and its instrumentalities might hold against individuals and entities involved in the Commonwealth’s financial transactions.

In other words, the Board did nothing to look into these claims until very recently. Also, the Board’s motion is much more than an equitable tolling issue. At page 13, paragraph 34, it states that not only are the GO bonds objected to invalid and do not have to be paid, but that it will seek the clawback payment of whatever the Commonwealth gave bondholders. In other words, the Commonwealth committed fraud against the bondholders, will not pay its obligations and will get back whatever it paid. Then at page 19-20, paragraphs 52-53, the Board pontificates that defendants have had to defend these cases and having the Board sue everyone would be an undue burden on these poor souls and it would be better to toll the statute of limitations to see if the Board is successful. In other words, all those that may potentially be sued by the Board must patiently wait for the resolution of a case in which they are not involved but whose outcome will determine if they will be sued in the future. Talk about a Damocles sword.

The extension of the statute of limitations would be 90-days after the ruling on the claims objection or 90 more days to finalize the investigation on the “Challenged Board Avoidance Defendants.” Even with what I have said, there is little doubt Judge Swain will grant the Board’s request and toll said statute of limitations. What the First Circuit will say about this is anyone’s guess.

On the same vein, the HTA and Commonwealth filed a stipulation to toll the statute of limitations between them. Similar motion was filed with other instrumentalities. In an adversary proceeding of seven credit unions v. the Board and Commonwealth, 18-0028, plaintiffs requested and were granted leave to amend the complaint, which now, inter alia, claims:

After having taken plaintiffs’ capital and liquid resources through a fraudulent scheme and dereliction of its duties, the government’s lack of honesty was continued and aggravated by its failure to mitigate the risks and losses caused by it, a failure ever graver in light of the responsibilities inherent to the government’s role as financial regulator and insurer of member shares and deposits.

The claims here go back to the Fortuño administration but it is emblematic of the view many of us have of the Commonwealth’s Government. The complaint also claims that once discovery commences, they will sue “Securities firms A–Z, which acted as underwriters, underwriting syndicate member, selling group manager, selling group member, broker and/or dealer, financial advisor, or in any other capacity in relation to the Puerto Rico Debt Securities,” and “[l]aw firms and counsel who acted as advisors and/or legal representatives to defendants identified in the preceding paragraphs and/or to issuers of Puerto Rico Debt Securities, with respect to said Puerto Rico Debt Securities and/or with regards to policy actions and omissions related thereto,”  and “[a]ccounting and/or auditing firms which made audits or financial analysis or reports, or that acted in any other capacity in relation to the Puerto Rico Debt Securities, as defined hereinafter.”  The Amended Complaint also claims violations of the Act Against Organized Crime and Money Laundering of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a sort of local RICO Act. Corruption galore!

Add to this President Trump’s “Rebuilding Puerto Rico Efficiently and Accountably” of April 4, 2019, that discusses Puerto Rico’s many cases of governmental corruption, both at the Commonwealth and Municipal levels. Moreover, the Grand Jury investigation on the Commonwealth’s Department of Education and purportedly also of its former Secretary, Julia Keleher, adds to the uncertainty.

This uncertainty can be seen in President Trump’s lack of urgency in sending the reappointment of the Board’s members to the Senate with only 38 days left of the 90 day stay granted by the First Circuit. When will these appointments be sent to the Senate? Will the Supreme Court issue a stay? Since the Board’s appointment expires on August 30, 2019, one can argue that even if the Supreme Court were to grant a certiorari, it would be moot once these appointments are made. On the other hand, if the SCOTUS grants the certiorari and the Senate confirms the Board, what happens to the reappointment? PROMESA requires that any Board member to be reappointed must be done in the same way he/she were originally appointed. If the SCOTUS say that the original appointments were valid, any Senate consent and advice would be contrary to PROMESA and we would have to go through the same maelstrom. Hence, it all depends on what the President and the SCOTUS will do. In any event, given that President Trump seems poised to reappoint the same members of the Board, Aurelius and Utier must change the dynamics of their message. Let’s see what happens.

A case that seems to be forgotten since it is not one in the PROMESA litigation but that is intimately related is Altair Global v. USA, before the US Court of Federal Claims, where the insurer wants the Federal Government to pay, as a taking without just compensation. The Judge assigned to the case denied the Federal Government’s request for dismissal but stayed the case until the Aurelius decision came down. Subsequent to the stay, the Judge was changed (Court of Federal Claims is not an Article III Court and hence Judges do not have the usual District Judges protection). After the Aurelius decision came down, the new Judge, issued the following order:

Accordingly, the court LIFTS the stay of proceedings and will proceed to resolve defendant’s motion to dismiss in its entirety. To facilitate its resolution, the court requests that the parties submit supplemental briefing in accordance with the schedule set forth below. The briefing shall address the following legal issues:

• Does the First Circuit’s ruling in Aurelius have any effect on the arguments advanced by the parties in their briefing and oral argument on defendant’s motion to dismiss or the rulings made by the Honorable Susan G. Braden in her July 13, 2018 Memorandum Opinion and Order? If the answer is “yes,” then what is that effect?

• Does the First Circuit’s ruling in In re The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, 914 F.3d 694 (1st Cir. 2019), have any effect on the arguments advanced by the parties in their briefing and oral argument on defendant’s motion to dismiss or the rulings made by the Honorable Susan G. Braden in her July 13, 2018 Memorandum Opinion and Order? If the answer is “yes,” then what is that effect?

• Have any binding, precedential decisions issued since July 13, 2019, that would affect the arguments advanced by the parties in their briefing and oral argument on defendant’s motion to dismiss or the rulings made by the Honorable Susan G. Braden in her July 13, 2018 Memorandum Opinion and Order? If the answer is “yes,” then what are those decisions and what is their effect?

• Are there any arguments––not previously raised by the parties in their briefing and oral argument on defendant’s motion to dismiss––that the parties wish to make in support of or in opposition to defendant’s motion?

Defendant USA must file by April 29, plaintiffs by May 30 and the reply brief by June 13. This case, if won by plaintiffs, has the potential of derailing PROMESA for ever since I doubt that Congress would want to pay for any monies that Puerto Rico does not pay.

National, the Oversight Board, and Citigroup filed a stipulation in the PREPA lifting of stay for appointment of receiver case, resolving their discovery disputes, and Judge Dein denied the Board’s reconsideration of her order denying certain discovery it requested. In addition, the Board and plaintiffs requested and obtained an order from the Court moving the date for the hearing to May 15, one day before the stay expires, in order to continue settlement negotiations. I have said many times that I view this litigation as a tool by plaintiffs to obtain a better settlement than other bondholders but this could also be a way for the parties to stipulate the lifting of the stay for the appointment of a particular receiver. We will have to keep an eye on these developments since the stipulation before May 15 would be valid as per the First Circuit’s ruling, but will be strongly challenged by Utier, who insists, with good reason, that the Board’s actions are illegal.

Peter Hein, a COFINA and GO bondholder, filed a motion for the appointment of a GO bondholder official committee of holders of $2.5 million or less. Judge Swain denied without prejudice his first request, directing him to the US Trustees Office, who essentially denied his request. His point, which is not without merit, is that Puerto Rico is spending millions to invalidate bonds it issued and should pay for the representation of these bondholders. I sympathize with him but doubt that the Court would grant it given the lack of support by the US Trustees office. Again, I urge GO bondholders to unite and retain counsel.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for April 1, 2019. Things are speeding up.

Andrew Scurria of the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump would nominate the present Board members for confirmation by the Senate. Subsequently, two independent sources confirmed this information. Given the Board’s actions, there will be opposition on both sides of the isle in the Senate but some democrats may think it is better than a bondholder-friendly appointees. The PPD minority leader in the Puerto Rico’s House of Representative has already signaled his opposition to the appointments and the Commonwealth is complaining that the Board is using Puerto Rico’s money to lobby in DC for their reappointment. In any event, with only 46 days left in the 90-day stay period, the schedule is very tight for confirmation.

On March 25, the UCC filed a motion requesting that the Board inform them by April 1 of the avoidance actions it intends to file and requested an expedited consideration of their request. It also requested that the Court consider naming it Trustee pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 926 to file any actions the Board would not. Not surprisingly, the Board opposed the motion and said that, if anything, it should be considered during the April 24 Omnibus hearing. The problem is that on May 2, 2019, the statute of limitations runs out to file said actions by the Commonwealth. Seems Judge Swain understood very well and ordered the Board to give the UCC a preliminary list by April 5. “The Committee and the Oversight Board shall promptly meet and confer regarding the contents of the Oversight Board’s preliminary list and anticipated allocation of litigation responsibilities. The Oversight Board shall thereafter provide to the Committee its final list of Commonwealth Avoidance Actions, including the aforementioned designations” by April 10. I think this means Judge Swain envisions the UCC and Board either dividing work on the avoidance actions or filing joint complaints. The order continues stating that the UCC could file a motion to be appointed Trustee by April 12 and the Board must file opposition by April 15. Court will hear argument during the April 24 hearing. This is clear victory for the UCC and only the third time Judge Swain has not sided with the Board on important issues. Moreover, given the timetable, no other party will be able to file a section 926 motion in time. Hence, if there is the appointment of said Trustee, it will be the UCC.

The UCC also filed an objection to the PREPA bondholders request for the lifting of the stay to appoint a receiver along predictable lines. Time for the Board and AAFAF to file was extended by Judge Swain, although many believe there will be some kind of settlement beforehand. Let’s wait and see.

Utier, PREPA’s union, filed a motion opposing the lifting of the stay and appointment of the receiver. What is different is that Utier calls instead for the appointment by the Court of an Independent Private Sector Inspector General and even if a receiver is appointed, to also have this “Inspector General.” The problem with this request is that the First Circuit, in FOMB v. Ad Hoc Group, 899 F.3d 13, 19 (1^st Cir. 2018), made clear that Judge Swain cannot interfere with PREPA’s use of its property pursuant to section 305 of PROMESA without the Board’s consent. Since it is obvious the Board will not consent, this request will go nowhere.

The ERS dispute discovery dispute continues and will be argued on April 1 before Magistrate Judge Dein. I am sure that both sides have valid points and Judge Dein will have a reasonable solution to the disputes.

In the PBA adversary proceedings, Defendants-Intervenors /Counterclaim Plaintiffs Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. answered the complaint and filed  counterclaims against FOMB and the UCC. The counterclaims are for:

(b)enter judgment in favor of Assured declaring that the Leases are non-severable and valid leases under Commonwealth law and are unexpired leases of nonresidential real property for the purposes of Bankruptcy Code section 365(d)(3);

(c) enter judgment in favor of Assured declaring that, pursuant to Bankruptcy Code section 365(d)(3), the Leases give rise to administrative expense claims for all postpetition amounts that remain due and owing by the Debtors under the PBA Leases, as well as any amounts that may accrue moving forward until such Leases are assumed or rejected by the Debtors;

(d) enter judgment in favor of Assured declaring that PBA is entitled to a priority administrative expense claim under the Leases pursuant to Bankruptcy Code sections 503(b)(1) and 507(a)(2), and that any such claim filed or asserted against the Debtors shall be allowed in full

The PBA/GO’s litigation is not going to be simple or short. Hence, I agree with Ms. Jaresko that the Commonwealth Plan of Adjustment will probably be filed at the end of this year or later. Especially if Judge Swain has not decided the PBA/GO’s issue.

Finally, there was an interesting twitter exchange between Cate Long and David Skeel on Sunday. Cate wrote:

I think Puerto Ricans and creditors would find this statement more credible if PR govt had not issued +1,900 advertising contracts since the start of the fiscal year (July 1, 2018). OBoard never required an identification of “essential services” as Promesa requires

To which Skeel responded “[a]s you know, @cate_long , PROMESA requires @FOMBPR to “ensure the funding of essential public services.” That’s exactly what we’re trying to do.” Section 201(b)(1)(C) of PROMESA requires that the Fiscal Plan “ensure the funding of essential services.” The mere fact that it is not services but ESSENTIAL services that need to be funded makes it clear that not all services provided by the Government are essential, as we saw during the Federal Government’s shutdown. The PR Government, however, has refused to downsize except through attrition and the Board, despite Judge Torruella and Judge Lynch separate opinions on the Board’s powers, has refused to force the Government to cut back in contracts, funding of useless government agencies (WIPR TV station and the State Elections Commission not in election years come to mind) or furlough employees. Moreover, the Board has even refused to define what is an essential service and so has the Commonwealth. Hence Cate’s comment. This lack of action by the Board will become important when the Commonwealth’s plan of adjustment is presented, which according to Mr. Skeel, is this month.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for March 25, 2019. A few things of import happened this week.

Noel Zamot, former revitalization coordinator for the Board, made some public statements blaming the Rosselló administration for the failure of PROMESA’s Title V. Five seconds later, the Commonwealth blamed Zamot for its failure and went to the extent of charging him with dubious actions. This being Puerto Rico, any of the two versions or both could be correct. What is important is that the Commonwealth Department of Justice sought Zamot’s information to subpoena him, the Board first demurred and later relented, but reserved the right to question the subpoena. The Commonwealth Department of Justice and other officials warned the Board that it could not interfere with a criminal investigation. The question is, can the Board do so? Section 108(a) of PROMESA states that neither the governor nor the Legislature may impede the Board’s work but the statute does not say if this includes Commonwealth criminal investigations. The US Supreme Court in Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971) made clear that federal courts may not interfere with state criminal prosecution and investigations, except when the prosecution is in bad faith, harassment, or the prosecution is clearly unconstitutional. At first glance, it would seem the Commonwealth is correct but the question is whether Congress withdrew the Commonwealth’s power to investigate the Board via section 108 since the power to pursue criminal prosecutions emanates from said Congress? See, Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 579 U.S. ___ (2016). Personally, I doubt it but it is something to consider.

AAFAF and the Board filed a joint motion to inform the Court of the situation in PREPA. It gave a short overview of the P3 procedures for the Transmission and Distribution lease, and the generation deals. What is very curiously missing from the motion is any mention of a sale of PREPA’s generation. I have said time and again that the politicians in PR do not want to sell PREPA for they would lose a way of placing their cronies in cushy jobs. Seems the Board is in agreement. Oh, well.

Assured opposed the Board’s motion for reconsideration of discovery order. More money wasted in my opinion. Also, ERS bondholders and the Board are duking it out on discovery disputes and a hearing will be held on April 1 in Boston. More waste of money.

The PBA Funds, Assured Guaranty Corp., Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and

QTCB Noteholder Group, filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings (essentially a motion to dismiss) in the PBA case where the UCC is asking the Court to declare that these bonds are not really GO’s. It is highly technical and will not bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that is well written and questions the UCC’s standing to claim against the bonds. I am sure that the UCC will file a good opposition and would be very surprised if Judge Swain dismisses the complaint, but the standing questions is interesting for other reasons. If the UCC has no standing, this would leave only the Board with standing to question the PBA bonds and it can only act, to this point, until May 16. What will happen to this challenge if President Trump does not appoint a new Board by that time and there is no extension to the stay? Questions, questions.

Continuing with the Aurelius decision, Utier filed a reservation of rights motion in the PREPA Title III, saying as to the opinion:

This determination gives the opportunity to the President to nominate, and the Senate to confirm, a new Oversight Board compliant with the established constitutional requirements of the Appointments Clause. This does not mean that the Oversight Board’s actions, after the First Circuit’s decision cannot be subject to invalidation. Nor does it mean a “green light” for the Oversight Board, during this period, to make decisions about Puerto Rico with the full knowledge that they do not have the legal authority to do so. UTIER reiterates the importance of such actions on Puerto Rico, which may cause irreparable damages and harmful consequences to UTIER and the people of Puerto Rico. In fact, as UTIER has alleged, with its actions the Oversight Board has already impaired UTIER’s labor rights. The Supreme Court has established that “[a]n unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is, in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed.”) See Norton v. Shelby Cty., 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886). For this reason, we maintain our position that an illegally constituted Board, can only make unconstitutional actions and decisions. . .

UTIER reserves the right to challenge any and all actions taken by the Oversight Board, since it is unconstitutionally constituted. This includes not only actions taken by the Oversight Board in the past, but also, any actions taken by the Board on or after February 15, 2019, since, if its members hold a position without legal authority, his previous and future actions are void. See Norton v. Shelby Cty., 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886). Any participation by UTIER in the Title III proceedings should not be interpreted as conceding the validity of any Board actions or decisions. UTIER will also object to any substantive actions of the Oversight Board as they arise.

The same day, Aurelius filed a similar motion and said:

To be sure, the First Circuit stayed its mandate for 90 days so that the President and Senate could “validate the currently defective appointments or reconstitute the Board in accordance with the Appointments Clause.” Aurelius, 915 F.3d at 863. But it is incorrect to assert, as the Board recently did, that because of this stay, the Board’s “actions, at least until May 16, 2019, are not null and void.” Board Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss, Adv. Proc. No. 18-41-LTS in 17-BK-3283-LTS, Dkt. 71, at 3 (Mar. 18, 2019). Similarly, the United States is wrong in urging this Court not to “halt the debt readjustment negotiations and the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings under Title III of PROMESA” in light of the First Circuit’s decision in Aurelius. U.S. Reply in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss, Adv. Proc. No. 18-41-LTS in 17-BK-3283-LTS, Dkt. 72, at 1 (Mar. 18, 2019). The sole purpose of the First Circuit’s limited stay of the mandate was to allow the President and the Senate time to remedy the constitutional defect, not to permit an unconstitutionally appointed Board to exacerbate the prejudicial effects of its unconstitutionality by rushing to take significant extra-constitutional actions in the interim, with no apparent effort being made even to attempt to appoint Board Members consistent with the requirements of the Appointment Clause. See Aurelius, 915 F.3d at 863. Nor, for that matter,  could the First Circuit permissibly declare that unspecified future actions of an unconstitutionally appointed Board are valid. To the contrary, there is no longer any doubt that all actions undertaken by the invalid Board after February 15, 2019 are at risk of being invalidated. The Board proceeds in this period at its peril, and so do those who rely on its actions.

Aurelius accordingly reserves its rights to challenge actions taken by the unconstitutionally appointed Board in the Title III action as void ab initio. This may include not only actions taken by the Board in the past, but also, in particular, any actions taken by the Board on or after February 15, 2019. Any participation by Aurelius in the Title III proceedings should not be interpreted as conceding the validity of any Board action. Aurelius will also object to particular substantive actions of the Board as they arise.

Although I sympathize with Aurelius and Utier, the fact is that the First Circuit, at page 54 of its opinion clearly stated, “[d]uring the 90-day stay period, the Board may continue to operate as until now.” Difficult to go against this statement but it also reflects the fact that they will argue to SCOTUS that all of the Board’s actions were illegal.

The battle between the Board and the Rosselló administration continues. The former sent the latter a letters stating that it had failed to provide section 204 information on several laws enacted and the governor called it silly. Expect more sparing when the Board certifies a new fiscal plan which will include a cut on pensions and possible firings. Never a dull moment in Puerto Rico.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for March 18, 2019. Different from previous weeks, this time a lot happened in PROMESA.

On March 12, 2019, just before the Omnibus hearing, AAFAF objected to the fee examiner’s report for a 5-7% increase in the fees by attorneys in the case. It wanted it capped at 2%. Judge Swain, however, approved the fee examiner’s report. If the Commonwealth wants to control the cost of litigation, all it has to do is reduce its litigation and request that the Board do the same. Just saying.

Also on March 12, 2019, the UCC filed an Omnibus Objection to the ERS bonds saying they were issued ultravires and also filed a separate objection to Oaktree Funds’ ERS bonds. The UCC states:

In 2008, ERS issued approximately $3 billion of ERS Bonds in underwritten public offerings.3 The ERS Bonds were issued as part of the failed implementation of an ill conceived “arbitrage” strategy ostensibly designed to rescue ERS from eventual insolvency. In 2011, the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly stated that the issuance of the ERS Bonds “was illegally made by [ERS] even though such transaction was submitted to the Legislative Assembly for approval and rejected by the House of Representatives for deeming it detrimental to the System.” Act 116-2011 at Statement of Motives (emphasis added).

As previously raised by the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (“AAFAF”) and other government parties in ERS-related adversary proceedings, the issuance of the ERS Bonds was “illegally made” in that the ERS Bonds were issued ultra vires. ERS’s statutory “authorization to incur debt” is limited to “seek[ing] a loan from any financial institution of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the Federal Government of the United States of America or through the direct placement of debts.” (emphasis added). A government entity such as ERS has no inherent power to issue bonds to the public, and any such power must be expressly granted by statute. Furthermore, as commonly understood in the finance world, a “direct placement of debts” means a private placement, not a public offering. Indeed, whenever the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly has granted bonding authority to a Commonwealth instrumentality (both before and after it authorized ERS in 2008 to “seek loans”), it has done so expressly and specified that the bonds may be sold publicly or privately.

Because the ERS Bonds were issued ultra vires, they are null and void, and the bondholders have no remedy against ERS. Accordingly, all claims asserted against ERS based on the ERS Bonds must be disallowed in their entirety.

I wonder if this move is related to the possibility that the Board at some time soon may be unable to act in the Title III cases. In any event, this is going to very interesting. In a related matter, Judge Swain issued an order to deal with the ERS bondholders’ request for lifting the automatic stay:

This matter is before the Court on opposing motions proposing litigation schedules related to the Motion of Certain Secured Creditors of the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for Relief from the Automatic Stay (Docket Entry No. 289,2 the “ERS Lift Stay Motion”). Movants3 and the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“ERS”) have provided the Court with dueling schedules, where they have agreed on the events which need to occur before a final hearing on the ERS Lift Stay Motion but disagree as to the applicable timeline. (See Docket Entry Nos. 388 and 389).

The Court has considered carefully the provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 362(e)(1) regarding the prompt disposition of motions for relief from the automatic stay. In light of the complexity of the issues, and the need for adequate time for discovery and related litigation, the Court finds that compelling circumstances require that the Court extend the final hearing date to May 21, 2019. (See 11 U.S.C. § 362(e)(1) (providing that the timing of a final hearing may be extended “with the consent of the parties in interest or for a specific time which the court finds is required by compelling circumstances.”).)

Accordingly, the Court sets the following schedule for the ERS Lift Stay Motion:

1. March 15, 2019: Deadline for completion of exchange of documents and

exchange of privilege logs with respect to non-ESI production.

2. March 18, 2019: Meet and confer on outstanding discovery issues.
3. March 21, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time): Deadline for first

round of motions to compel.

4. March 25, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time): Deadline for

oppositions.

5. March 27, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time): Deadline for replies.

As you may see, Judge Swain has given the Board a date after the May 16, 2019 First Circuit deadline, which I am sure will be part of the request to the Supreme Court for a stay on said order. It helps to have an understanding and pro-Board judge.

On March 13, 2019, the Judge held an Omnibus hearing. The first matter in the agenda was a report by the Board on the status of the cases. Martin Bienestock, the Board’s principal attorney, announced that his client would seek a modification of the First Circuit’s stay and would also request certiorari from the ERS ruling. So much for saving on litigation. Mr. Bienestock also reported the Board was working on the Fiscal Plans, the Budget and the suggestions appeal by the Commonwealth. He also said they were monitoring fiscal reforms (Law 80, maybe), negotiating with creditors and suggested there would be further Title III’s. Judge Swain then asked for the timing of the new plans. Mr. Bienestock then said that the Commonwealth Plan would be filed possibly at the end of April, 2019, depending on creditor support. Suspect timing to say the least.

After this came out, Mark Stancil, for the GO creditors group took the podium. He started by saying the obvious, there is a lot of litigation and the Board had not engaged with creditors (I suppose he meant the GO groups since there are reports Judge Housser had to suspend mediation since the parties would not budge). He stated that the GO’s would file additional litigation having to do with the failure of the Board to impose change on the Puerto Rican Government. Stancil questioned how a Plan of Adjustment could be contemplated without these changes and that these reforms were crucial. He encouraged the Board to nudge and had to put the politicians through their paces.

Mr. Bienestock then said that the GO’s were a gating issue for the Plan of Adjustment. He also mentioned the Board tried to repeal Law 80 but they failed and if Mr. Stancil wanted to tell them how to do it, he was willing to listen. He added that the Board was willing to negotiate with creditors.

There are considerable views out there that believe the Board has simply failed to force change aside from its letter writing campaign to the Governor and the photo-ops at Fortaleza. It is clear to most that this Board has simply resorted to becoming a tool for debt relief and establishing legal precedents for future state bankruptcies rather than a force for fiscal and governmental reform. Once again, the people of Puerto Rico lose.

Later, the Board tried to explain that the problems reported in the COFINA bond exchange was due to market fluctuations and that everything would be fine from now on. Maybe.

Next was Luc Despin of the UCC. He started saying that he agreed with the Board in 98-99% of the cases but since January of 2018 it has been saying Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) was needed but nothing had come out it. He complained that the UCC had been excluded from the PREPA RSA and the Committee had a right to be involved. When asked if he had confronted the Board, Despin said yes.

Bienestock answered that there had been more negotiations with the UCC than with anyone else but that he did not see what the Committee had to do with secured creditors. Although Despin believes the Committee had a place at the table, Bienestock does not agree as to secured creditors. Judge Swain asked the parties to meet and confer and if anything has to be resolved, she would deal with it. Mr. Rosen, another attorney for the Board, informed the Court that the Board was working on ADR and would have something ready for the next Omnibus hearing of April 24, which was news for the UCC.

The issue of ADR is important. There are thousands upon thousands of lawsuits stayed because of the Commonwealth’s Title III filing and have to be deal with in the Plan of Adjustment. Almost all are without a judgment. In order for ADR to work, not only must there be a structure but also mediators and time to evaluate each case. This cannot be done by April 2019. But the Board said it would file a Plan of Adjustment by that date. Moreover, the Board just made an RFP for a claims management and reconciliation agent drive.google.com/file/d/12QgoIW… If it is going to start this procedure at the end of March, how can it have a Plan of Adjustment by April? If the Federal Government is taking over statistics for Puerto Rico because the island’s are unreliable, how can a Plan of Adjustment be seriously considered at the end of April. If the Board insists that the objection to some GO’s issued is a gating issue for the Plan of Adjustment be filed at the end of April? Questions, questions.

Cooperativa de Ahorro y Creditor Vegabajeña filed an adversary proceeding against the Board and ERS claiming it has a lien over individual retirement contributions held by the ERS but belonging to Commonwealth employees and ERS participants. Soon the UCC will seek to intervene, as is its right and this case will go to judgment and whoever loses will appeal to the First Circuit and possibly seek certiorari from the SCOTUS. Thus is the Board’s way.

Finally, and very importantly and very telling, during the night of Friday March 15, 2019, the Board put in its website the Duff & Phelps IFAT Report on the Title III Bank Accounts as of June 30, 2018. Yep, it is not a typo, this report is as of June of 2018. This report is the Board’s response to AAFAF’s revelation in December of 2017 of over 800 accounts with almost $6 billions.

The Report is over 150 pages with its different tables and exhibits. At page 4, it states:

A principal goal of the Project was the publication of a report that would include a description of the processes employed, the results obtained and an opinion from D&P on whether or not procedures performed validate, with a high degree of certainty, that Commonwealth bank and investment accounts were identified and account balances as of the Measurement Date were accurately disclosed (the “Report”).

The report states that it depended on the voluntary cooperation of the Puerto Rican Government and its dependencies, but not all cooperated. At page 4, footnote 6, the Report makes clear this is not an audit. Curious. Also interesting, at page 4:

Based on a classification (a “Classification”) asserted by Commonwealth entity account holders regarding whether bank account funds were subject to certain types of restrictions, certain legal due diligence and financial analytical procedures were performed to identify the support for, nature of, and terms of such Classifications. As part of the Commonwealth bank account holders’ (“AH”) response, the entity was asked to provide supporting documentation for the Classification. The results of the legal due diligence and financial analytical procedures performed are set forth in Section III.

Guess who did the legal due diligence? O’Neill & Borges, the Board’s local counsel. Talk about a conflict free and impartial evaluator!

Continuing at page 7, the Report states that “[a]nalytical procedures peformed on the Restricted-Selected accounts is ongoing. The work regarding analytical procedures is not sufficiently developed to indicate whether or not AH cash flows do or do not support the Restrictions.” WHAT!!!??? This Report does not even state that the funds that the Commonwealth claims are restricted for another use are in fact restricted? Amazing!

Moreover, the Report at page 10 states that “D&P regards the CE not identified by Counsel or not covered by the Report, as described in paragraph 10 of Section I,  as described in paragraph 10 of Section I, such as the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) and municipalities are outside the scope of this Report.” Paragraph 10, which is at page 5, makes clear that D&P must:

[F]ocus on those Commonwealth instrumentalities identified by counsel as Title III entities or covered by the Commonwealth Fiscal Plan certified by the FOMB as of October 23, 2018, and set March 12, 2019 as the Report issuance date. The University of Puerto Rico (“UPR”) is also included in the Report because the UPR relies heavily on funds provided from the Commonwealth to sustain its operations.

In other words, PRASA, the Municipalities could have billions in accounts but we will never know from this report. Unbelievable. Total waste of taxpayer dollars.

At page 14, the Report states that in unreconciled accounts, there are $11,575,189,236 in different accounts, of which $4,806,456,332 are unrestricted, $1,245,598, 957 as to which no representation has been made, $5,356,298,000 as restricted and $166,935,947 in a Commonwealth pooled account. In other words, the Commonwealth is sitting on at least $6 billion in cash with could be used for debt payment. That is without the benefit of a review of why over $5 billion is considered restricted. That is almost two years of full debt service of Puerto Rico’s debt.  If we look at the reconciled accounts at page 15, we have over $10.2 billion, of which over $5.7 billion are unrestricted or no representation has been made. Mindbogling.

Moreover, at page 23, the Report states that it could not “validate the claims of AH who reported that GDB was holding funds for them as of the Measurement Date. The sum of bank account balances (Table 10) which were reported as held at GDB cannot be validated, and therefore have been excluded from the values reflected in the Table 1 and Table 2.”

At page 24, the Report states that neither the Judiciary nor PREPA had responded to D&B requests for information. Pages 25-26 makes recommendation as to work needed to be performed.

At the time of the revelation of these secret bank accounts, the Board sought to blame the Governor for withholding this data from the Board, and commenced the Duff & Phelps inquiry. Nothing could be farther from the truth. At the time, I released a secret [communications log] between AAFAF and the Board, which demonstrates there was no deception on the part of the Puerto Rican Government. Rather, why then did the Board go to great lengths to hide these accounts, and then when caught red-handed, attempt to paper over them with outside counsel report?  Why after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire Duff & Phelps we still don’t have all of the answers? The involvement of O’Neill and Borgess raises even more questions, especially considering that one of the architects of PROMESA, former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, remains a lawyer and lobbyist for the Board. Moreover, this report raises more questions than provides answers. Why are certain accounts restricted? What will be done for the unrestricted accounts? How could these accounts not be known by the García Padilla Administration and hence the Obama administration when they went to Congress claiming a humanitarian crisis? How can you justify not paying bondholders and unsecured creditors when the Commonwealth is sitting on this pile of cash? Why was this report not an audit, where an opinion would be issued? These questions only reinforce what I have been thinking for a while; the objections to any Commonwealth Plan of Adjustment will be monumental, both by bondholders and unsecured creditors. Litigation will go on for years and there will be no end to it, unless the Board sits down and settles with creditors, both secure and unsecured. The likelihood of this happening, however, is slim to none.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for March 11, 2019. Very little happened last week.

I reported last week that Judge Dein denied the Board’s urgent motion for production of certain documents it requested in the lifting stay to appoint a receiver in PREPA. Undeterred, the Board requested reconsideration via Rule 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from Judge Dein on Friday March 8. In my experience, Courts seldom reconsider but this is part of the Board’s confrontational attitude to all Title III cases. On Friday, Judge Dein ordered that “[a] ny response shall be filed by March 19, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time. Any reply shall be filed by March 25, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.” Let’s see what she decides. Remember the hearing on the merits will be held on May 8, 2019. Will the First Circuit’s opinion on Aurelius influence Judge Swain’s decision on this matter? If there is no appointed Board by that date, will she decide to grant the monolines wish and allow another Court to appoint a receiver for PREPA? Having only the benefit of the monolines’ expert reports, it seems the utility is being badly managed. Questions, questions.

The new kid on the block, the Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition, filed a motion to intervene in the PBA adversary proceeding. The Board stated that it would not object but what is interesting is that the intervention requested is as a defendant and in their proposed answer to the complaint, the Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition requests that it be dismissed. Now we don’t know on which side this group will be. Interesting.

The number of notices of participation in the GO litigation continues to grow. This is something we must keep a close eye since all the ones I have examined are pro se. They need legal representation.

The First Circuit denied Utier’s request for rehearing and rehearing en banc. The union quickly vowed to go to the Supreme Court. This belies Mr. Skeel’s claims that it was Aurelius who was behind the challenge. Utier has made it clear that it wants all of the Board’s actions to be declared null and void. Let’s see who arrives at the SCOTUS first. And talking of Mr. Skeel, he posted in Twitter the following comment as to the First Circuit’s denial of rehearing. “Very clear here and in the First Circuit’s Feb 21 decision rejecting a challenge from Puerto Rico lawmakers that the Board’s authority is fully intact until the Apptments [sic] Clause ruling goes into effect (if it ever does.” Very cocky tweet considering how difficult it is to obtain certiorari review from the SCOTUS and even if it is obtained, winning is not a sure thing. Just ask the García Padilla administration that obtained two certioraris for the same year, only to lose both decisions on the merits. Also, let’s not forget that Mr. Skeel filed an amicus brief in support of the Puerto Rico Recovery Act. He did not persuade the SCOTUS. Moreover, this does not show much respect for the First Circuit decision, which bottom line only affects the present members’ appointments, with purportedly two not wanting to seek review.

Caribbean Business reports that Mr. Skeel said there is no timetable for the publication of the Duff and Phelps report on the government’s bank accounts. This is important for according to emails in my possession, the Board knows of the existence of these accounts no since December 2017 when it was announced but July of 2017. This knowledge and the subsequent feet dragging on any report makes you wonder at the Board’s insistence on the Commonwealth’s lack of transparency. According to the weekly, “the island’s bank accounts have more than $12 billion, of which $3.6 billion is in a restricted account subject to the bankruptcy proceedings and $4.1 billion is in the Treasury Single Account.” Very hard to justify not paying bondholders and other creditors with that much loot.

The Omnibus hearing was transferred to NYC and will be held on March 13. Very little to happen, I think.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.

Welcome to your weekly Title III update for March 4, 2019. The Aurelius case continues to dominate Aurelius the PROMESA news.

As I predicted, the Board announced on February 28, 2019, that it will seek certiorari from the Supreme Court on the Aurelius decision and a stay on the First Circuit judgment. In addition, Mr. David Skeel told the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce that the decision from the Supreme Court could come in the fall. Caribbean Business reported, however, that this decision was not unanimous. Would love to see the transcript of that meeting. Was it a 4-3 decision? Was it only the Claims Committee members? My sources tell me it was but I doubt if we will ever find out.

Add to this, the Board objection to the GO challenge and you can see the Board’s strategy. If the Board files late April the petition for certiorari, there will be no time for the case to be seen this term and the petition would be set, if granted, for the start of the Supreme Court term, first Monday in October 2019. If the oral arguments are in October, the decision would not come down until late November or early December. Moreover, the Supreme Court frequently grants stays in cases that later it does not grant a certiorari. Also, the Board may seek an extension of time to file the petition for certiorari and seek the stay on the First Circuit decision. This would take the time for the decision to come denying the certiorari into late 2019 and if granted, any decision into 2020. All the while, the Board could continue to operate even if later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Finally, today Utier filed a motion for rehearing en banc for the entire First Circuit to review the Aurelius decision. The Utier motion states at pages 15-17:

The court must reconsider its decision. First, the Court must determine that the actions taken by the Oversight Board members after the filing of the complaint on August 6, 2017, are null since its good faith ended when the legality and constitutionality of their appointments were questioned. Therefore, the actions taken by the Board, after the filing of the complaint, were taken in bad faith and with full knowledge of the vice in their appointments. Also, the Court must reconsider its decision to allow the Board to continue operating for 90 days since at this time its appointments are unconstitutional. We, respectfully submit, that the Court must not allow an Oversight Board with unprecedented and unlimited powers, that was unconstitutionally appointed, to make vital decisions about a country that is going through one of its worst economic, political and social crises as if it they had a constitutional appointment.

If the Court allows the Oversight Board to continue operating, its members would be acting without legal authority or credibility, in bad faith, subject to attacks questioning its motivations and they would be making important decisions and determinations for Puerto Rico without the power to do so.

Utier asked for the following remedy:

For the above stated reasons, UTIER prays for a Panel Rehearing or a Hearing En Banc to modify the Judgment in this case to declare void and null all the Oversight Board’s actions and decisions since the filing of the Complaint on August 6, 2017. Furthermore, this Court should stay all the Oversight Board future determinations or proceedings after the Judgment of this case was issued on February 15, 2019, until its members are reappointed, or the Oversight Board is reconstituted with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Rule 13.3 of the Supreme Court of the United States, reads as follows:

The time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari runs from the date of entry of the judgment or order sought to be reviewed, and not from the issuance date of the mandate (or its equivalent under local practice). But if a petition for rehearing is timely filed in the lower court by any party, or if the lower court appropriately entertains an untimely petition for rehearing or sua sponte considers rehearing, the time to file the petition for a writ of certiorari for all parties (whether or not they requested rehearing or joined in the petition for rehearing) runs from the date of the denial of rehearing or, if rehearing is granted, the subsequent entry of judgment.

This means that now the Board has more time to file its petition for certiorari and extend their appointment. This would allow the Board to finish the GO challenge or settle it and then move for the Plan of Adjustment. Once the Plan of Adjustment is filed, it will have a momentum of its own and maybe influence the Supreme Court to overturn the First Circuit for practical reasons. Not likely, but possible. Since last Friday, Mr. Skeel has been in the press pushing an agenda that has only one thing in mind: the filing of the Commonwealth Plan of Adjustment, which obviously is the only thing the Board cares about.

To top it all off, Bond Buyer quotes Congressman Bishop saying that the First Circuit opinion should be appealed because the Court got the powers of the Board all wrong. Even if he is right, which he is not, that has nothing to do with the appointments clause. Let’s see what happens.

Moreover, although the Board members’ term ends in August, PROMESA section 101(e)(5)(C) establishes that “[u]pon expiration of a term of office, a member of the Oversight Board may continue to serve until a successor has been appointed.” Hence, if President Trump decides not to bother with new appointments, the present Board members can continue in place. But section 101(5)(D) states that “[a]n individual may serve consecutive terms as appointed member, provided such reappointment occurs in compliance with paragraph 6.” Section 101(e)(6) states “[a] vacancy on the Oversight Board shall be filed in the same manner in which the original member was appointed.” The present members were appointed in a manner not available anymore unless the First Circuit opinion is overturned. Would this be the real reason they will seek certiorari?

The wild card in all of this is President Trump. He could decide to join the Board in its request for certiorari and stay of proceedings. He could, however, decide to appoint a new Board and possibly moot the Board’s petition for certiorari. Moreover, Aurelius and Utier could push for the Supreme Court to determine that all of the Board’s actions are invalid, overturning part of the First Circuit’s holding. This could push the Supreme Court to quickly deny certiorari or deny any stay petition, under the idea that it is better to have a new Board than risk having the whole Title III and other decisions be rendered invalid.

Seems to me that the best thing for Puerto Rico and its Title III cases to have the present Board cease litigating these issues and remove any possibility of its decisions be rendered invalid. That, however, would mean relinquishing power. Reminds me of what James F. Byrnes once said: “Power intoxicates men. When a man is intoxicated by alcohol, he can recover, but when intoxicated by power, he seldom recovers.”

The Board, in reaction to the ERS bondholders’ motion for appointment of a trustee, filed a stipulation between this agency and the Commonwealth the following effect:

The period in which Avoidance Actions of the Commonwealth, on the one hand, and ERS, on the other hand, must be commenced against one another pursuant to sections 546(a) and 549(d) of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Statutory Deadlines”) shall be tolled such that the Statutory Deadlines shall expire (a) two hundred seventy (270) days from and after the date on which the Statutory Deadlines would have expired in the absence of this Stipulation unless (b) the Commonwealth or ERS provide written notice of early termination (the “Termination Notice”) in accordance with clauses (A) and (B) below, in which case, the Statutory Deadlines shall expire on the date that is one hundred fifty (150) days from the delivery of such Termination Notice plus the number of days between the Stipulation Effective Date, as defined below, and the date on which the Statutory Deadlines would have expired in the absence of this Stipulation to: (A) the Court, through the filing of an informative motion, and counsel to the Bondholders, by serving a copy of such Termination Notice upon (B) (i) Jones Day, 250 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10281, Attn: Bruce S. Bennett, Esq., by hardcopy and email transmission ([email protected]), and (ii) White & Case LP, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 4900, Miami, FL 33131, Attn: John K. Cunningham, Esq., by hardcopy and email transmission ([email protected]); provided, however, that, the foregoing is without prejudice to (y) the rights, interests and defenses that may be raised by either the Commonwealth or ERS in connection with any such Avoidance Actions, other than the applicable statute of limitations, laches, or any other time-related defense and, (z) the treatment of the Statutory Deadlines as may be provided in a plan of adjustment for the Commonwealth or ERS, subject to the effectiveness and consummation of any such plan of adjustment.

2. The Commonwealth and ERS shall have the right to extend the period set forth in Paragraph 1(a) above for a period specified in writing upon thirty (30) days’ prior written notice and service of such notice upon the Court and counsel for the Bondholders in the matter set forth above.

Judge Swain promptly approved the stipulation. The whole process in the ERS will be interesting to watch.

A new Group of GO called the Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition that holds or manages PBA and GO bonds filed appearance in the Commonwealth Title III. The group hired Susheel Kirpalani from Quinn Emanuel who successfully represented the COFINA Senior Bondholders during Title III. It is not clear what position they will take on the bonds. Will they oppose the Board and the UCC defending those challenged bonds? Will they instead be the class that is needed to accept the Plan of Adjustment for the cramdown pursuant to PROMESA sec. 314(c)? We need to watch this group, and its members. We will soon find out more.

Finally, we cannot let today’s update go by without acknowledging the intense lobbying being undertaken by the Board and her advocates to project confidence, control and to influence the legal process.  Simon Johnson, the famed British-American economist and proponent of PROMESA claims a “tragedy looms” in Puerto Rico following the First Circuit’s decision.  His doom and gloom view was prominent in 2016.  He writes that adhering to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause is a “purely procedural issue” and suggesting the U.S. Constitution is not as important when the lights could get shut off.  These claims are as tired as the Board and Governor Rosselló’s bickering.  As a refresher from our British friend turned U.S. citizen, the U.S. Constitution was written after the defeat of British Tyranny. It appears though Mr. Johnson would like the Oversight Board to be more like the British Monarchy. In fairness, Johnson does get one thing right when he writes, “Trump could immediately nominate, and the Senate could confirm, the current oversight board members, or, as Skeel points out, a new set of board members could be chosen.”  I guess we all wait on Mr. Trump.

Judge Dein denied the Board’s urgent motion for production of certain documents it requested. The Board, however, was not deterred. On March 2, 2019, the Board filed a motion for reconsideration stating that new documents were being reviewed and would renew its motion by March 4. The litigation so loved by the Board continues.

Each day more and more notices of participation in the GO litigation are being filed but for the most part as pro se. I urge these persons to hire an attorney. The issues are of Puerto Rican law and are not simple.

This summary is merely what I believe are the more salient motions and decisions in the cases. I receive an average of 20 filings each day so it would be impossible to summarize everything. If you have legal interest in these cases, I urge you to hire an attorney to represent you.