Deutsche Bank Chairman Josef Auckerman spoke for all the private banks in Germany concerned with Greek debt when he said, “Banks need to cooperate with European governments to achieve a quantifiable, sustainable solution to Greece’s persistent debt crisis.”
One wonders if the powers that be invited him to a party. Why would he speak what he knows is false otherwise? The banks might have agreed to rollover their holdings of Greek bonds, they may have accepted new bonds with later dates of maturity for those that fall due in 2014, and this might affect 3.2 billion euros worth of currency, but there is no guarantee that these “voluntary losses” will not trigger a default declaration by the ratings companies.
Germany must step up to the bat and guarantee those Greek bonds.