SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Feb. 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes ("K&T"), www.perdidasenbonospr.com/en/, and Carlo Law Offices, commented today on Standard & Poor's ("S&P") decision yesterday to push Puerto Rico's general obligation rating further into junk territory when it lowered it to B-five notches below investment grade.
S&P based its decision on the Commonwealth's precarious fiscal condition, and signaled further potential downgrades and maintained a negative outlook. S&P also lowered the ratings for the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp.'s ("COFINA") first and second lien bonds; Puerto Rico Municipal Finance Agency's; Puerto Rico Employees Retirement System's; the Commonwealth's general fund-supported appropriation and moral obligation bonds; Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority's and the debt of the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority. "The many years of economic weakness in the Commonwealth, combined with the government's insatiable appetite for debt and deficits, confirms our long standing belief that the owners of Puerto Rico's debt will continue to see the value of their holdings decline," according to securities attorney, Steven D. Toskes of Klayman & Toskes, P.A.
Mr. Toskes explains, "brokerage firms, including UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico, Santander Securities, Popular Securities, Oriental Financial and Merrill Lynch, a subsidiary of Bank of America, sold Puerto Rico's bonds to investors and failed to disclose the deterioration in the Commonwealth credit quality. The concentration in Puerto Rico Bonds with declining credit quality substantially increased the risk of default and likelihood of significant loss in value for risk-adverse investors."
Klayman & Toskes, PA and Carlo Law Offices are dedicated to the rights of Puerto Rico investors. Puerto Rico investors who suffered losses as a result of FINRA sales practice violations, including unsuitable investment advice and failure to supervise, may be able recover their losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.
About Klayman & Toskes
Klayman & Toskes, a leading securities and litigation law firm, practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation, on behalf of retail and institutional investors. The firm represents investors throughout the world in securities arbitration and litigation matters against major Wall Street brokerage firms.