The second in a series on Puerto Rico’s pensions

On May 3, 2017, the Financial Oversight and Management Board filed the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s Title III petition. In the nearly four months since the filing, we have seen the Board develop a legal strategy that relies on elevating pensions over secured bondholders and invalidating contractual liens such as those held by pension obligation bondholders of ERS.   Each of these steps eerily echoes the legal strategy of used by the Obama Administration during the Chrysler Bankruptcy. But what does an automaker’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy have to do with Puerto Rico’s supposed insolvency you may ask? More than you would imagine, and it’s not confined simply to the court room, either, as we explore.

First, let’s discuss what happened in the Chrysler Bankruptcy.

The Chrysler Bankruptcy

By December of 2008, Chrysler, after years of decline, was in dire straits. It was bloated, inefficient and burdened by labor contracts and pension costs. The timing – during the midst of the Global Financial Crisis – could not have been worse. This confluence led Chrysler, along with General Motors, to then start pleading for greater federal financial assistance (i.e. – a bailout; sound familiar?), arguing that liquidation would mean the loss of thousands of good (meaning union) jobs.

In December of 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bailout Chrysler, but the U.S. Senate voted it down. Then-President Bush proceeded to extend credit but when the credit ran out, then-President Obama intervened, forcing out Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and announcing that the federal government would provide additional funds to support Chrysler contingent on the completion of a merger with Fiat within 30 days.

After examining the restructuring plans, the Obama administration decided they were insufficient, thereby forcing Chrysler to file for bankruptcy in April of 2009. Within two months, Chrysler emerged as “The Chrysler Group,” owned by the United Auto Workers (55%), Fiat (20%), the US Government (8%) and Canada (2%). See, The Auto Bailout and the Rule of Law, by Todd Zywicki.

In the years leading to its bankruptcy, Chrysler had been unable to obtain financing and resorted to issuing secured debt to finance its operations. At the time of the filing, Chrysler owed around $6.9 billion in secured debt, but also $10 billion to an unsecured pension plan.

In a bankruptcy, secured debt has the first priority of payment and unsecured creditors get the rest in a pro rata basis. This general principle applies to all Bankruptcy Chapters and hence to Title III. Also, in Chapter 11, the debtor prepares a Bankruptcy plan pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1123 in which it classifies the claims in order of priority and the debtors whose claims are impaired have a right to vote on the plan. This is the same procedure of Chapter 9 and hence, of Title III in PROMESA.

In Chrysler, it was done differently. The U.S. Government created and funded a shell company that, through a § 363 sale, bought substantially all of Chrysler’s assets for $2 billion, giving the secured creditors a paltry return of 29 cents on the dollar. FIAT was brought in to manage the new firm and was given a slice of the new company’s stock. New Chrysler (formally: New CarCo Acquisition LLC) then assumed the old company’s debts to the retirees, most dealers, and trade creditors. The unsecured claims of the retirees’ benefits plan were replaced with a new $4.6 billion note as well as 55% of the new company’s stock. Assessing the Chrysler Bankruptcy, by Mark J. Roe and David Skeel at page 5.

How the Board is using the Chrysler Playbook in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, the Board has told the Court that COFINA, Peaje (HTA), and Altair (ERS) do not have a lien – essentially ripping up binding contracts. The Board has also told GO bondholders that they do not have a priority in payment structure, evidenced by the elevation of pensions over their constitutional-backed debt.

At the same time, the Board has allowed the Commonwealth to pay 100% of pensions, which will total $2.5 billion a year, as well as pay all suppliers and tax refunds. The Board will ensure a modest haircut of 10% on these pensions at some point in the future, although the details are vague and applies to only certain pensioners. Even this move by the Board has met resistance from the Rosselló administration, who has rejected any claims that say they will not pay pensions in full.

As we can see, the Board is trying to deprive secured creditors of their security so their claims can be deeply cut while at the same time, favoring non-secured pensions to be paid. Exactly like Chrysler.

Not wanting to waste time while the Title III proceedings unfold, the Board and the Rosselló administration are getting a jump start through legislative actions.

Together, these seemingly ‘opposing entities’ have jointly pushed through legislation in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and Senate that codifies pensions as a higher priority payment than constitutionally-prioritized debt, and worse, crystallizes entitlements from the date enactment, instead of upon retirement, which essentially attempts to lock in pensions at current rates and not subject them to a restructuring on a pro-rata basis in Title III without creating claims, a flexibility that the Commonwealth might otherwise have enjoyed. At the same time, they do a farcical face-off about a 10% cut in pensions to give the impression there will be some pain.

This action underscores that neither the Board nor the government are just waiting for the courts to act, as was the case in the Chrysler bankruptcy, but rather enacting policies that will lay the groundwork for the outcome they want in court – to give themselves and pensioner’s protection and outright injuring the secured bondholders they owe.

The Link between Puerto Rico and Chrysler

Judge Arthur González is a member of the Board and without a doubt its intellectual leader. He is on the most important committees, attends Judge Taylor Swain’s hearings (an old colleague of his as they used to be bankruptcy judges in the Southern District of New York together) and most importantly, was the presiding Judge in the Chrysler bankruptcy. Moreover, Judge Gonzalez was president Obama’s choice for the Board – a telling sign.

Additionally, the information I have received is that Judge González was adamant on hiring the Board’s law firm of Proskauer Rose, whose principal restructuring lawyer is Martin Bienestock. According to the University of Michigan Law School bio on Mr. Bienestock, he “developed for General Motors the section 363 sale free and clear strategy that the United States Auto Task Force deployed for both Chrysler and General Motors.” As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a coincidence. It is all too true in the case of Puerto Rico.

One closing thought, what bewilders me is how the Board and government believe they can pursue a legal strategy that will simply invalidate liens and contracts, and elevate pensions above and beyond adequate funding as directed by Congress in direct contradiction with PROMESA and the Puerto Rico Constitution.

In the next installment, I will discuss the critics of the Chrysler Bankruptcy in detail, including some that will surprise you.

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