By Robin Wigglesworth, FT
To tender or not to tender, that is the question running through the minds of hedge fund managers contemplating whether to sign up for Greece’s buyback by Friday’s deadline.
Even a successful buyback will only chip away gently at Greece’s mountain of debt. But it may be sufficient to unlock the International Monetary Fund’s next aid payment for Athens and keep the painstakingly negotiated overall debt relief package from collapsing.
By Ian Talley, The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON--A bond buyback plan meant to shave roughly 20 billion euros off Greece's debt burden will likely succeed, which would pave the way for the International Monetary Fund to approve the next tranche of bailout financing, the Institute of International Finance said Thursday.
ATHENS--The management of Greece's leading banks will decide Friday whether to participate in an ambitious plan by the government to buy back billions of euros worth of outstanding bonds in an effort to cut Greece's growing debt burden, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.
The four leading banks--National Bank of Greece SA (NBG, ETE.AT), Eurobank Ergasias SA (EGFEY, EUROB.AT), Alpha Bank AE (ALBKY, ALPHA.AT) and Piraeus Bank SA (TPEIR.AT)--have all scheduled board meetings Friday to discuss the issue after last-minute consultations with Greece's finance minister.
By LANDON THOMAS JR.-The New York Times
LONDON -- The hedge funds holding Greek bonds may have become too greedy for their own good.
It's just two days before the books close on a plan to reduce Greece's debt load by having the country purchase its deeply discounted bonds from banks and investors. But bankers close to the transaction are voicing concerns that hedge funds might "blow up the deal" by holding out for a higher price.
Bloomberg
Greece’s credit grade was reduced to SD, or selective default, by Standard & Poor’s from CCC after the government began buying its bonds back from investors, a statement on the rating company’s website said yesterday. The nation has offered 10 billion euros ($13.1 billion) to purchase debt issued earlier this year as the bailed-out country attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid. The rating was lifted to CCC from SD in May after undergoing the largest sovereign restructuring in history earlier this year.