Read the final report in our yearlong investigation into the Puerto Rican Debt Crisis, its underlying causes, what it means for communities on the island and in the United States, and what we can do to fight back.
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The Puerto Rican Debt Crisis
Puerto Rico is embroiled in a humanitarian crisis that is leading to a mass exodus from the island, with a planeload of people leaving with one-way tickets every day. Its unsustainable debt load, stagnating economy, astronomical cost of living, and high poverty rates have made it nearly impossible for many working families to remain on the island. Unfortunately, both the government of Puerto Rico and the US Congress have put the interests of bondholders ahead of residents by paving the way for harsh austerity measures to ensure that bondholders get paid. Our partners have written a series of reports exposing the Wall Street banks that targeted Puerto Rico with predatory and often illegal debt deals, the vulture hedge funds that are trying to profiteer off the crisis, and the public officials that are enabling this piracy.
Click here for information about Banco Santander’s role in the Puerto Rican debt crisis.
ReFund America Project
The US Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) in June 2016, which created a Fiscal Control Board to oversee the Commonwealth’s finances. But in order for it to do its job fairly, the Control Board must understand how Puerto Rico came to be so deeply indebted in the first place. The ReFund America Project has conducted a yearlong investigation of Puerto Rico’s debt, releasing a series of reports about the banks that targeted the Commonwealth with predatory, and sometimes illegal, debt deals.
Each piece of research listed below is available to download through the clickable links found in the caption.
WALL STREET’S POWER GRAB IN PUERTO RICO
May 25, 2017
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s debt restructuring has been disastrous for Puerto Ricans.
Read the report in English.
Lea en Español.
GOLDMAN’S STRONG MAN IN PUERTO RICO
April 28, 2017
Trump’s Puerto Rico policy is a back door bailout for Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.
Click here to read the report.
DOWN THE WELLS
April 24, 2017
Wells Fargo sold Puerto Rico billions of dollars in predatory payday loans.
Read the report in English.
Lea en Español.
BEWARE OF BANKERS BEARING GIFTS
February 8, 2017
Wall Street banks targeted Puerto Rico with predatory financial deals like toxic swaps that helped pad bankers’ bonus checks but added tremendous risk to the Commonwealth’s debt portfolio. As the federally-appointed Fiscal Control Board decides how to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt, it must put the interests of Puerto Ricans first.
Read the report in English.
Lea en Español.
SCOOPING AND TOSSING PUERTO RICO’S FUTURE
August 31, 2016
Wall Street banks convinced Puerto Rico to refinance the same debt over and over again, and charged hefty fees each time.
Read the report in English.
Lea en Español.
PUERTO RICO’S PAYDAY LOANS
June 30, 2016
Banks sold the Commonwealth capital appreciation bonds, which are the government version of a payday loan. Puerto Rico will pay $33.5 billion in interest on $4.3 billion of underlying debt.
Read the report in English.
Lea en Español.
Each report listed below is available for viewing through the clickable link in the caption.
Pain and Profit 
Insured to Profit 
The Golden Revolving Door 
Pain and Profit After Maria 
Hurricane Harvard 
Private Equity and Puerto Rico 
Pirates of the Caribbean 
Puerto Rico: Pain and Profit 
The Antonio Weiss Files 
New York City’s Public Pension Vultures in Puerto Rico 
Hedge Fund Vultures in Puerto Rico 
The Looting of Puerto Rico’s Infrastructure Fund