Debt holders lining up for lawsuit over risk warning
INVESTORS who claim banks failed to warn them of the risks involved in buying Greek debt are to try and sue the government and banks involved, it was announced yesterday.
Lawyers in Germany representing 110 investors have formed a class action group. Most of the investors involved spent between €100,000 (£84,116) and €500,000 on Greek paper, but one spent €3m.
Meanwhile, lawyers are expected to argue that the debt swap infringed the terms of a German-Greek treaty designed to protect German investors against political risk. The debt swap cut over €100bn off Greece’s overall debt burden, forcing investors to take write-downs of 53.5 per cent on their holdings.
Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos pushed hard for high voluntary participation.