PABJ Calls on Peru to Make Dean Mahoney's Report Publicly Available
Peru cited independent report by UVA Law Professor and Dean Paul G. Mahoney in rebuttal to Columbia University Law Professor John Coffee's legal opinion but does not make report available
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Peruvian American Bondholders for Justice ("PABJ") today calls upon the Republic of Peru's Ministry of Economy and Finance and Minister Alonso Segura to make public an "Independent Report" prepared by University of Virginia professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law Paul G. Mahoney.
In a June 2, 2016 press release, the Peruvian Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Peru obtained an independent report by Paul G. Mahoney, an expert in securities law and the Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law, one of the leading law schools in the U.S. He concluded that there was no legal or factual basis to Gramercy's particular allegations."
The press release also proclaimed that a legal opinion prepared by Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee was "a biased report by a professor alleging misconduct by Peru in connection with its issuance of contemporary global bonds unrelated to the agrarian bonds."
However, Peru failed to provide Dean Mahoney's report as part of their June 2 public announcement and, as a result, there is no way to analyze how Dean Mahoney reached that conclusion, or the facts he used to make that determination. Peru also provided no facts to support its claims that Professor Coffee authored a "biased report" and has never disputed any of the specific findings in Professor Coffee's legal opinion. Finally, both Peru and Dean Mahoney have resisted multiple requests from the media to make Dean Mahoney's report publicly available.
In contrast, Professor Coffee made his findings available to the public, granted interviews with the media and participated in public forums discussing his findings, including the recent EMTA panel in New York discussing the Land Bonds.
A copy of Professor Coffee's legal opinion is available online at: http://perubonds.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/coffee_opinion.pdf.
One of the examples of misstatements and omissions Professor Coffee refers to is in the section on debt record, found on page 53 of Peru's February 23, 2016 prospectus filed with the SEC: "As of the date of this prospectus, Peru is unaware of any other claims filed against it, in Peru or abroad, for overdue debt payments and Peru is not involved in any disputes with its internal or external creditors."
That statement is unequivocally false. Peru has disclosed through responses to public information requests the existence of at least 400 local judicial proceedings related to the Land Bonds against either the Ministry of Economy and Finance or the Ministry of Agriculture. As of September 17, 2015, more than 45 judgments against Peru have been rendered but remain unpaid. Peru owes in excess of US $100 million with respect to these unpaid judgments. For more information on the ongoing proceedings and unpaid judgments, please refer to: http://bonosagrarios.pe/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Memo-No-552-2014-EF52-9.12.2014.pdf and http://bonosagrarios.pe/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Memo1379-2015.pdf.
We call upon Minister Segura to make Dean Mahoney's report publicly available.
Contact Information:
John Anderson / Will Bohlen
[email protected]
SOURCE Peruvian American Bondholders for Justice (PABJ)
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