PRRADA

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 683 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources AN ACT To impose requirements on the payment of compensation to professional persons employed in voluntary cases com- menced under title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (commonly known as ‘‘PROMESA’’). Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 683 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Recovery 2 Accuracy in Disclosures Act of 2020’’ or ‘‘PRRADA’’. 3 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE BY PROFESSIONAL PERSONS SEEKING 4 APPROVAL OF COMPENSATION UNDER SEC- 5 TION 316 OR 317 OF PROMESA. 6 (a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a voluntary case com- 8 menced under section 304 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 9 2164), no attorney, accountant, appraiser, auc- 10 tioneer, agent, consultant, or other professional per- 11 son may be compensated under section 316 or 317 12 of that Act (48 U.S.C. 2176, 2177) unless prior to 13 making a request for compensation, the professional 14 person has submitted a verified statement con- 15 forming to the disclosure requirements of rule 16 2014(a) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Proce- 17 dure setting forth the connection of the professional 18 person with— 19 (A) the debtor; 20 (B) any creditor; 21 (C) any other party in interest, including 22 any attorney or accountant; 23 (D) the Financial Oversight and Manage- 24 ment Board established in accordance with sec- 25 tion 101 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2121); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 683 RFS (E) any person employed by the Oversight 1 Board described in subparagraph (D). 2 (2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—A professional 3 person that submits a statement under paragraph 4 (1) shall— 5 (A) supplement the statement with any ad- 6 ditional relevant information that becomes 7 known to the person; and 8 (B) file annually a notice confirming the 9 accuracy of the statement. 10 (b) REVIEW.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Trustee 12 shall review each verified statement submitted pur- 13 suant to subsection (a) and may file with the court 14 comments on such verified statements before the 15 professionals filing such statements seek compensa- 16 tion under section 316 or 317 of PROMESA (48 17 U.S.C. 2176, 2177). 18 (2) OBJECTION.—The United States Trustee 19 may object to compensation applications filed under 20 section 316 or 317 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2176, 21 2177) that fail to satisfy the requirements of sub- 22 section (e). 23 (3) RIGHT TO BE HEARD.—Each person de- 24 scribed in section 1109 of title 11, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 683 RFS Code, may appear and be heard on any issue in a 1 case under this section. 2 (c) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the United 3 States shall have jurisdiction of all cases under this sec- 4 tion. 5 (d) RETROACTIVITY.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a court has entered an 7 order approving compensation under a case com- 8 menced under section 304 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 9 2164), each professional person subject to the order 10 shall file a verified statement in accordance with 11 subsection (a) not later than 60 days after the date 12 of enactment of this Act. 13 (2) NO DELAY.—A court may not delay any 14 proceeding in connection with a case commenced 15 under section 304 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2164) 16 pending the filing of a verified statement under 17 paragraph (1). 18 (e) LIMITATION ON COMPENSATION.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a voluntary case com- 20 menced under section 304 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 21 2164), in connection with the review and approval of 22 professional compensation under section 316 or 317 23 of PROMESA (48 U.S.C. 2176, 2177), the court 24 may deny allowance of compensation for services and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 683 RFS reimbursement of expenses, accruing after the date 1 of the enactment of this Act of a professional person 2 if the professional person— 3 (A) has failed to file statements of connec- 4 tions required by subsection (a) or has filed in- 5 adequate statements of connections; 6 (B) except as provided in paragraph (3), is 7 on or after the date of enactment of this Act 8 not a disinterested person, as defined in section 9 101 of title 11, United States Code; or 10 (C) except as provided in paragraph (3), 11 represents, or holds an interest adverse to, the 12 interest of the estate with respect to the matter 13 on which such professional person is employed. 14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a determina- 15 tion under paragraph (1), the court may take into 16 consideration whether the services and expenses are 17 in the best interests of creditors and the estate. 18 (3) COMMITTEE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.— 19 An attorney or accountant described in section 20 1103(b) of title 11, United States Code, shall be 21 deemed to have violated paragraph (1) if the attor- 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 683 RFS ney or accountant violates section 1103(b) of title 1 11, United States Code. 2 Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Dec 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H683.RFS H683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS