Official Committee of Retired Employees express concerns on the U.S. Court of Appeals decision over the ERS bondholders claims

San Juan, Puerto Rico – The Official Committee of Retired Employees of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (ORC) is disappointed by the ruling of the First Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, determining that ERS bondholders held a perfected lien in “Pledged Property” prior to the commencement of the ERS Title III case on May 21, 2017. 

Miguel J. Fabre Ramírez, chairman of ORC said that “this ruling, however, preserves numerous important issues for determination by Judge Laura Taylor Swain at the District Court. Fabre also stated that “in particular it has not been determined that any pre-Title III lien of the bondholders applies to any property of the PayGo system or any property of ERS acquired after the Title III case began on May 21, 2017.  If the lien does not apply to such property, then the lien can only be asserted potentially against the limited assets that the ERS held as of May 21, 2017, and application of the lien would still require the bondholders to establish that those assets are part of, or proceeds of, the Pledged Property that is collateral for the lien; if the bondholders cannot establish these facts, then the lien cannot be applied”. 

The Retiree Committee will continue to advance all appropriate legal arguments regarding these matters before the District Court and all appellate courts, to protect the interests of ERS retirees and their beneficiaries.

About the COR
The COR, which was appointed by the U.S. Trustee in June 2017, represents government retirees in Puerto Rico’s Title III case under federal law PROMESA. The COR represents the collective interests of pensioners from the Government Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System, and the Judiciary Retirement System.