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Greek PM Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos at cabinet meeting in Athens today. Thanassis Stavrakis/AP/Press Association Images

Greek deal is 'a credit event' triggering potential $3bn pay out

The agency overseeing financial derivatives has said that anyone holding a type of insurance on Greek bonds will receive a payout.

THE AGENCY THAT oversees financial derivatives says a massive debt relief deal for Greece constitutes a so-called credit event, meaning it will trigger payouts on bond insurance.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said tonight that its determinations committee “resolved unanimously that a Restructuring Credit Event has occurred with respect to The Hellenic Republic.”

That means holders of credit default swaps on Greek bonds will be able to claim insurance payments as a result of Greece’s decision to force its debt holders into a bond swap.

There had been fears that the payout of such insurance could spark a cascade of losses for banks and other important investment funds.

But ISDA has said that overall payouts on CDS linked to Greek bonds will be less than $3.2 billion, relieving fears that they could fell a big financial firm.

Earlier, Greece’s private creditors agreed to take cents on the euro in the biggest debt write down in history, paving the way for an enormous second bailout to keep the Europe’s economy from being dragged further into chaos.

Greece would have risked defaulting on its debts in two weeks without the agreement, sparking turmoil in the financial markets and sending shock waves through the other 16 countries that use the euro.

Prime Minister Lucas Papdemos called the deal an important “historic success” in a televised address to the nation Friday night. “For the first time, Greece is not adding but taking debt off the backs of its citizens.”

The country said 83.5 per cent of private investors holding its government debt had agreed to a bond swap, taking a cut in more than half the face value of their investments with softer repayment terms for Greece.

The radical swap aimed to put the country’s debt-ridden economy on the road to recovery, and was a key condition to secure a €130 billion rescue package from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier: Success for Greece as huge majority of investors agree to bond swap

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11 Comments
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    Mute Declan Flanagan
    Favourite Declan Flanagan
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    Mar 9th 2012, 9:34 PM

    What are the chances of the irish republic getting a write down?,won’t happen, our politicians will make us pay everything,looks like the ECB yesterday said ireland will get nothing from them ahhhhhhh

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    Mute Adrian De Cleir
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    Mar 9th 2012, 9:42 PM

    Of course they’ll say that, the last thing they want is more market panic.

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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Mar 9th 2012, 11:07 PM

    We’re told that if Ireland defaults on debts that were never ours this would result in a ‘credit event’ that would end civilisation as we know it. However, Greece triggers a credit event and the world’s still turning.
    Now our own central bank is going to unexist €3.1 billion of taxpayers money on the 31st of this month.
    http://www.nodebt.ie/news/

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Mar 10th 2012, 12:08 AM

    None Enda doesn’t want to go around with defaulter printed on his forehead. Sadly for Ireland he is quite happy to wear the dunces cap…..

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    Mute Réada Quinn
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    Mar 10th 2012, 12:49 AM

    Enda’s lucky he’s from the west of ireland and didn’t live in the Wild West of America. Otherwise he’d be going around with a target printed on his forehead. Loser!

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    Mute jimbo
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    Mar 9th 2012, 9:15 PM

    Crash bang whallop..

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    Mute Feargal Garvin
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    Mar 9th 2012, 9:22 PM

    3 billion is peanuts compared to the amounts involved in this deal

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    Mute Michael Fagan
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    Mar 10th 2012, 12:11 PM

    Greek military spending is budgeted to increase by 18% to 2 billion euros this year, guess who will be selling these weapons? You got it ! France and Germany

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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Mar 9th 2012, 9:29 PM
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    Mute Ann Illing
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    Mar 10th 2012, 11:24 AM

    Its an ” orderly default “…….still a default and they still wont be able to pay the debt they are left with back… Be interesting to see what happens at the elections there in April…….

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    Mute You Have Been Assimilated
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    Mar 11th 2012, 8:58 AM

    Now that they have triggered a ‘credit event’ would they not be better off to have a complete default ?

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