Natalie Jaresko to leave Puerto Rico Oversight Board

The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico today announced that Natalie Jaresko is stepping down as executive director and interim revitalization coordinator.

Jaresko joined the Oversight Board as executive director in March 2017 after a career in both the private and public sectors, including for the United States Department of State, as finance minister of Ukraine, and as a founding partner of the Horizon Capital private equity fund. Executive Director Jaresko gave notice of her resignation effective April 1, 2022. The Oversight Board is beginning the public search for a new Executive Director and Jaresko will assist in the transition.

“Puerto Rico has the strength, and the people of Puerto Rico have the dedication, to end this crisis and build a better future,” Jaresko said. “After reducing most of Puerto Rico’s debt, including for the Commonwealth, to affordable levels; fulfilling our obligation to stabilize Puerto Rico’s finances; and creating a road map to prosperity with the Fiscal Plan, Puerto Rico has reached an important turning point.”

“I am leaving the Oversight Board at a time of recovery and stability. I am proud of what we have achieved, and I am confident that the road that led us to this milestone will take Puerto Rico further to growth and prosperity,” Jaresko said.

Under Natalie Jaresko’s leadership, the Oversight Board achieved two important breakthroughs: the plan of adjustment to reduce the territory’s outstanding debt by 80%, breaking more than a decade of deficit spending, and fiscal plans that are Puerto Rico’s roadmap to growth and prosperity.

In a statement, Oversight Board Chairman David Skeel called Jaresko “been the Oversight Board’s quarterback in every dimension of our work.”

Jaresko’s departure comes as the Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi asks for a clearer path for the territory to leave the board’s oversight. In a series of tweets reacting to her departure, the governor reminded the Oversight Board that Puerto Rico is “in a transition stage towards the end of the Board’s mandate.” A timeline for the hiring of a new executive director or for the board’s exit has not been established.