Belgium seeks 5-yr Greek rollover, EFSF rate-paper
BRUSSELS, June 23 | Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:52am EDT
BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - Belgium has asked banks and insurers with exposure to Greece to roll over maturing sovereign bonds for five years at a coupon equivalent to the euro zone rescue fund's lending rate, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
Business daily De Tijd said the Belgian central bank had made the request at a meeting on Wednesday that included Dexia , which has a 4.3 billion euros ($6.2 billion)exposure to Greece, insurer Ageas with 1.8 billion, and KBC with 600 million.
The request was part of a euro zone-wide effort to involve the private sector in sharing the cost of a second financial rescue for the debt-burdened country on a voluntary basis to avoid triggering a credit event.
De Tijd said the initial response was positive and the authorities hoped to wrap up an agreement in principle on Thursday, while an EU summit on the debt crisis is under way.
Similar meetings took place in Germany, France and Spain on Wednesday, banking and government sources told Reuters, but it was not immediately clear whether the same terms were on offer everywhere.
The European Financial Stability Facility's current lending rate to distressed sovereigns is about 5.8 percent, based on the terms granted to Portugal in April. However, euro zone nations reduced the lower rate charged to Greece by one percentage point in March to help ease its debt burden. ($1=0.698 Euros)
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Importante, da leggere.
Bankers Turn Their Backs On Greek Debt Holding
Euro-bankers do not seem to be interested in participating in the Greek debt holding project, as the Eurozone Finance Ministers attempted to investigate their intentions.
European Commission sources close to the relevant procedures told Capital.gr that the initial signs are not encouraging.
After Eurogroup meeting on Monday, European Finance Minister rushed almost in unity to discuss with banks the possibility of voluntary participation in the roll over of Greek debt. But, they didn’t get a better reaction than a “moderate interest” which was accompanied by the question “what would be the incentive for such participation”.
International press reports that two large banks’ CEOs were travelling outside Europe but the felt is not necessary to return and participate in contacts.
Capital.gr sources note that this issue would be the “hot issue” in the agenda of the discussion over lunch at the EU Summit, which meets on Thursday, after the meeting of the 27 leaders with the European Council President.
The second hot topic on the agenda would be the contagion risk of the debt crisis if the International Monetary Fund insists that without substantial assurances from the EUR, it would not pay its slice in the release of the fifth aid instalment to Greece.
Diplomatic circles comment that IMF’s stance is a kind of blackmail to force EU leaders to reach decisions on preventing the medium-term risk of a default in the Eurozone. But, they add that such a decision restricts the means of pressure on Greece to pass and implement the medium-term fiscal program, as the EU would be forced to commitments before the Greek government.
Meanwhile, the interventions of FED and ECB bankers will play an important role in the agenda of the Summit, warning European leaders about the risk of contagion beyond the three troubled economies.
(capital.gr)
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Indiscrezioni da Atene ... peraltro contrastanti rispetto all'atteggiamento delle banche in merito al rollaggio, come da fonti del Belgio.
Sorrido
Perchè c' era da aspettarselo.
La BCE ha ragione.
....e per la prima volta chiedono di far pagare i costi ai creditori
In ogni caso spero trovino la quadra.