"Are you and your client here just to defend the integrity of the Constitution?"
“你和你的委托人只是为了维护宪法的完整性吗？”
asked Samuel Alito, an associate justice of the America's Supreme Court, on October 15th.
10月15日，美国最高法院的大法官塞缪尔·阿利托问道。
"Or would one be excessively cynical to think that something else is involved here, involving money?"
“或者人们会不会极度怀疑，认为有其他东西涉及其中，比如钱？”
The court had heard arguments from Donald Verrilli, for the board overseeing Puerto Rico's bankruptcy;
法院听取了波多黎各破产监督委员会的唐纳德.维瑞利；
Jeffrey Wall, for the federal government; and Theodore Olson, to whom the judge's remarks were addressed.
联邦政府的杰弗里·沃尔以及希尔多·奥尔森为各自的辩论，法官的这句话是对希尔多·奥尔森说的。
His client is Aurelius Capital Management, a hedge fund that invests in distressed debt. At stake are $125bn of creditor claims.
他的委托人是Aurelius Capital Management，一家投资不良债务的对冲基金公司。1250亿美元的债权人债权岌岌可危。
Aurelius was founded in 2006 by Mark Brodsky, formerly of Elliott Management.
Aurelius由马克·布罗斯基成立于2006年，他曾供职于Elliott Management。
Both funds were involved in a fight with Argentina about its bonds in 2014,
这两家基金公司都曾在2014年与阿根廷就其债券发生纷争，
波多黎各的破产(1).jpg
during which Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, then the president, dubbed them "vultures".
当时的总统克里斯蒂娜·费尔南德斯·德基什内尔称他们是“秃鹰”。
They were among six funds that held out for full repayment. In 2016 they settled favourably and were paid $9.3bn.
他们是六家坚持全额还款的基金之一。2006年，他们达成了令人满意的和解协议，获得了93亿美元的报酬。
Aurelius now aims to get the Supreme Court to declare the Puerto Rico oversight board unconstitutional,
Aurelius现在的目标是让最高法院宣布波多黎各监督委员会违宪，
in the hope of improving on its offer to the territory's creditors of 35-45 cents on the dollar.
希望以此来改善其向该领地债权人提供的每1美元35-45美分的赔偿。
In 2014 rating agencies downgraded Puerto Rico's debt. It ended up defaulting.
2014年，评级机构下调了波多黎各的债务评级。它最终违约了。
In 2016 Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA)
2016年，议会通过了《波多黎各监督管理与经济稳定法案》（简称PROMESA）
to approve the island's budget and supervise its debts.
以批准波多黎各的预算并监督其债务。
The president, then Barack Obama, was to appoint the board members,
时任总统巴拉克·奥巴马将任命委员会成员，
with no requirement to seek the Senate's approval—which the constitution says is needed for "officers of the United States".
且没有寻求参议院的批准—宪法规定“美国官员”需寻求参议员批准。
Aurelius argues that this should cover the board members, and that the board is unconstitutional.
Aurelius认为宪法的这一规定应该包括委员会成员的任命，且这个委员会是违宪的。
The board and federal government argue that the board's business is "primarily local". Lower courts had disagreed.
委员会和联邦政府认为委员会的业务“主要是地方业务”。下级法院不同意。
The board was created to oversee bankruptcy proceedings unresolvable by Puerto Rico's governor,
该委员会的成立是为了监督波多黎各管理者无法解决的破产程序问题，
arguably implying that its powers supersede the island's.
这可能意味着委员会的权利将取代波多黎各管理者的权力。
But those lower courts also blessed the board's actions under the "de facto" doctrine,
但那些下级法院也支持委员会根据“事实”原则采取的行动，
which allows actions by officials to stand, even if they are found to have been wrongfully appointed.
该原则允许官员们采取行动，即便发现对他们的任命是错误的。
On October 15th the Supreme Court spent little time on the de facto doctrine.
10月15日，高级法院几乎没花什么时间研究这个“事实”原则。
It focused on whether the board acts locally, in the interest of Puerto Rico, or federally, in the interests of all Americans.
它的重点是委员会是否为了波多黎各或所有美国人的利益而在当地采取行动。
Remarks from some of the liberal justices seemed to lean towards the latter—and thus towards Aurelius.
一些自由派法官的言论似乎倾向于后者—因此也倾向于Aurelius。
"One option could have been some kind of financial bail-out," said Elena Kagan.
Elena Kagan称，“一种选择可能是某种形式的金融援助。”
Congress "instead chose an option that had less financial cost for the American people as a whole".
相反，国会“选择了一个对整体美国人民经济成本更低的方案”。
Sonia Sotomayor probed the idea that the act gave the board members powers that ordinary local officials did not previously have.
索尼娅·索托马约尔探究了这样一种想法：该法案赋予了委员会成员权力，而这种权利是以前普通地方官员没有的。
A ruling is due by July. If it goes Aurelius's way, it would be a mighty upset—and hugely disruptive for Puerto Rico.
裁决将于7月做出。如果按照Aureliu的方式，这将是一个巨大的颠覆—对波多黎各来说是巨大的破坏。
The board has collected and paid out claims, and issued $12bn of bonds.
委员会已收回并支付了债权，并发行了120亿美元的债券。
"I have no idea how one unwinds this," said Mr Wall, for the federal government. He seems unlikely to have to find out.
“我不知道该如何解决这个问题，”联邦政府的Wall先生表示。他似乎不太可能找出答案。
The conservative justices, who are in a majority, seemed to lean towards seeing the board members as Puerto Rican officers.
大多数保守派法官似乎倾向于把委员会成员看作是波多黎各的官员。
"If we conclude that the powers and duties here are primarily local…do you lose?"
“如果我们的结论是该案权利和责主要都是地方的......你输了吗？”
Brett Kavanaugh asked Mr Olson. The court will now decide.
布雷特·卡瓦诺问奥尔森。法院现在将作出裁决。
来源：经济学人
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