Page 8 - John Mudd News Today

Judge Laura Taylor Swain's action allows LUMA Energy to continue to operate.

The unrest potentially has short- and long-term impacts on the local government and its finances, analysts say.

Attorneys say the first step is to get a court to stay enactment of the Plan of Adjustment, but that it is unlikely.

To become law, the bill would have to pass the House of Representatives and Senate, gain the governor's signature, and avoid potential blocks by the Puerto Rico Oversight Board and lawsuits.

After more than four years of intense negotiations between many stakeholders, the Oversight Board's Plan of Adjustment gets the OK from Judge Laura Taylor Swain, moving the commonwealth closer to emerging from bankruptcy.

Participants note there is a long road to sustainable recovery for the island that is dependent on the local government keeping its spending in check.

Swain rejected several legal challenges to the Plan of Adjustment. The Oversight Board must file a final amended plan by Friday.

The bankruptcy judge is unlikely to rule on the Plan of Adjustment and related legal documents until the federal government has filed its defense.

The credit unions had bought $976 million of Puerto Rico bonds and notes, which they alleged they were coerced to purchase by Puerto Rico government and its agencies.

Pension laws had been perhaps the key issue that could have scuttled the island's debt restructuring deal.