Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The first tranche of funds from the American Samoa Government’s $10 million investment in a United Arab Emirates pension fund did not materialize on September 18, 2026 — the date repeatedly cited by officials as the opening of the “window of opportunity” for McKinley Beech Tree Structured Finance LLC (MBT) to pull down the initial $20 million return.

On Friday, Governor’s finance advisor Brett Butler met with Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean to provide an update on the stalled investment. Butler delivered a letter from MBT, addressed to Governor Pulaalii Nikolao Pula and himself, dated September 18 — the very day the payout was expected — informing ASG that the closing had been delayed.

The letter, signed by MBT Director Gregory Burkholder, stated:

“As you are aware, we were to have conducted the closing with the monitizer today. We did engage to effect the closing; however, during the presentation and review of the closing settlement statement, a few discrepancies were discovered by the MBT side of the transaction.”

Burkholder wrote that the discovery triggered “lengthy discussion” and a full review of supporting documentation. He added that the monitizer acknowledged and confirmed the discrepancies, prompting a “special work session” scheduled for Sunday to amend the closing settlement statement and provide MBT with a corrected draft before finalizing the transaction.

Notably, the letter does not identify or describe the discrepancies.

Burkholder apologized for the delay, saying both MBT and the monitizer were “working diligently to rectify the discrepancies” and move toward closing and funding “as soon as possible.”

Burkholder did not commit to a new payout date. He wrote that he would “likely not know until Monday” how the discrepancies might affect the revised funding timeline or the transfer of funds back to ASG.

He assured ASG that the transaction “will close” and that the first tranche — including ASG’s original capital — will be remitted as promptly as possible.”

Under the agreement ASG signed with MBT, $20 million was to be paid 30 days after ASG transferred its $10 million investment plus a $100,000 fee. $30 million was to follow 30 days later. $50 million would arrive another 30 days after that. 

ASG made its transfer in March, meaning the full $100 million return — plus the original $10 million — was contractually expected by the end of June.

None of the tranches have been received.

Senate President Tuaolo said he told Butler to brief the Fono on the latest development, planning to do so during Friday’s budget hearing.

At the start of the hearing, Tuaolo announced that the Governor wished to address the Fono personally. Senators disagreed, saying Butler’s update would suffice.

However, House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale objected to discussing the investment during the budget hearing, arguing it was unrelated to the fiscal review. Senator Togiola T.A. Tulafono agreed, noting that the Senate Government Operations Committee is already conducting a review of the investment.

Togiola welcomed the MBT letter, saying it confirms that “there are problems.” He added that the letter suggests “something has happened, and what has happened will not end. It will happen again next week.”