Reply #25: Banks bristle at Greek haircut plan

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15336199

There is now a major lobbying operation under way. The banks that lent to Greece are suddenly worried that a deal they thought was done is in the process of being undone - and a new and bigger bill is heading their way.

In July, Greece's creditors agreed - voluntarily, they point out - on a 21% write-down of their debt - the so-called haircut. In other words, they accepted that for every dollar or euro they had lent to the Greek government, they might get back 79 cents.

But over the weekend, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble indicated that the deal would need to be revisited. He said that private holders of Greek bonds might well have to endure bigger losses than the previously agreed figure.

Mr Schaeuble declined to put a figure on it, but the banks fear that the new number might be 50% - for every euro they lent, they get back half.