San Juan Press Conference: Dr. Robert Shapiro to Release Analysis that Shows PR Government's Move to Nullify Its Agreements with Doral Financial Corporation Has Alarming Economic Implications
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, June 24, at 11:30 a.m. EDT, Dr. Robert Shapiro, former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, will hold a press conference at the Ritz Carlton in San Juan (Isla Verde). Dr. Shapiro's remarks will focus on his new paper set to be released Tuesday entitled, The Importance of the Rule of Law and Enforcement of Contracts For Foreign Investment and Economic Modernization: How Efforts by Puerto Rico's Treasurer to Nullify Tax Agreements with a Local Financial Institution Will Aggravate the Commonwealth's Economic Problems.
The press conference follows a recent decision by the Puerto Rico Government to nullify a tax agreement with Doral Financial Corporation, the Commonwealth's second-largest mortgage lender. The contractual agreement spanned three successive administrations in Puerto Rico, all of which acknowledged that Doral had overpaid its taxes and that the Government is legal obliged to repay Doral for those overpayments.
In advance of the release of his new paper, Dr. Shapiro said, "When a government unilaterally walks away from a contract, it sends troubling signals to the financial markets that stifles foreign direct and financial investments. Given Puerto Rico's current economic conditions – depressed business investment, the long-term contraction in GDP, falling per-capita incomes, and junk-bond status for its public debt – additional reductions in investment could have severe consequences."
"The Government of Puerto should reverse its current position with regard to Doral and reassure both the Island's businesses and U.S. and foreign investors that Puerto Rico will abide by the unbiased application of the rule of law and respect for contracts and property rights."
Accredited members of the press are asked to reserve space at the press conference by notifying Miriam Warren at [email protected]. A copy of Dr. Shapiro's paper will be found at www.doralpuertoricofacts.com on the day of the release.
About Dr. Shapiro: Robert Shapiro was Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown University School of Business and chairman of the advisory firm, Sonecon. Dr. Shapiro is also an advisor to Doral Financial Group. In the past, he has advised, among others, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, U.S. Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Timothy Geithner, other senior officials of the Obama administration, then Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the International Monetary Fund, and senior executives in many Fortune 100 companies. He also served as Vice President and co-founder of the Progressive Policy Institute, Legislative Director and Economic Counsel to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and as a fellow of Harvard University, the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Brookings Institution. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard as well as a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and an A.B. from the University of Chicago.
About Doral Financial Corporation: Doral Financial Corporation is a bank holding company engaged in banking, mortgage banking and insurance agency activities through its wholly-owned subsbidiaries Doral Bank, with operations on the mainland U.S. (New York metropolitan area and northwest region of Florida) and Puerto Rico. Doral Financial Corporation's common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DRL. Additional information about Doral Financial Corporation can be found at www.doralpuertoricofacts.com.
SOURCE Doral Financial Corporation
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