The insurance companies National Public Finance Guarantee, Assured Guaranty, and the Ad Hoc General Obligations and Mutual Fund Group bondholder groups asked the bankruptcy judge to force the government and the Fiscal Control Board (FCB) to submit information about the public debt, including through a deposition under oath.

This request was filed on Friday by means of two separate motions under Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 2004, which allows creditors to make in-depth inquiries on their debtors' finances before a final debt adjustment plan is approved.

This action is different and separate from the one initiated by another group of creditors and the Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which last week resulted in US Magistrate Judge Judith Dein ordering these groups and the FCB to engage in a dialog to look into Puerto Rico's debt.

The motions filed on Friday are a reaction to Governor Ricardo Rosselló's statements—within the context of his struggle against the FCB over the enforcement of the workday reduction—saying that such a measure was not necessary because the government has a financial reserve of $1.5 billion.

Although the debt-restructuring negotiations and mediations with the bondholders are underway, the situation with the bond insurers is different. Even if the government reached an agreement to pay the bondholders less than 100% of the debt, the insurers would have to disburse 100% of the debt to the bondholder, since that is their business: guaranteeing that the bondholder will collect 100% of the debt, even if it comes from the insurer.

These new requests will be discussed before Judge Laura Taylor Swain at the bankruptcy case follow-up hearings to be held on October 4th.

'How much can the Commonwealth really pay? Its Title III case turns on that question. The case's goal is a plan of adjustment, which must, among other things, be 'fair and equitable' (to be confirmed over the objection of a class of creditors) and 'in the best interests of creditors' (in all cases). Whether a plan of adjustment meets those criteria depends, in turn, on whether it does all that is reasonably possible to maximize creditor recoveries. And that is a quintessentially factual question that turns on the data, financial models, and other analytical materials underlying the Commonwealth's plan of adjustment,' states the motion filed by Assured Guaranty, Ad Hoc General Obligations Bondholders, and Mutual Fund Group.

For their part, National is asking the court to order the depositions under oath of FCB Chairman José B. Carrión III, Hacienda Secretary Raúl Maldonado, Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority Director Gerardo Portela Franco, and FCB Executive Director Natalie Jaresko.