Euro officials move to save Greek bail-out

Article reported that Eurozone finance ministry officials would try to rescue their July 2011 €109bn Greek bail-out deal by overhauling a controversial Finnish collateral agreement with Greece to open it up to other European creditor countries.

European officials cautioned that the new version, to be discussed on the 26 August 2011 by the so-called 'euro working group' of finance ministry technocrats, still faced objections from some member states and potentially other institutions, such as the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

But three officials briefed on the talks said the group was looking at a proposal for a 'non-cash' collateral arrangement where Greece would put up either real estate or shares in state-owned enterprises and financial institutions as a guarantee towards eurozone bail-out loans.

Helsingin Sanomat, 30.8.11: Germany 'taken by surprise' by collateral deal http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Germany+%E2%80%9Ctaken+by+surprise%E2%80%9D+by+collateral+deal/1135268961416

Helsingin Sanomat, 26.8.11: Poor accounting in Helsinki (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/888681-poor-accounting-helsinki

ESO: Background information: Greco-Finnish deal reopens bail-out debate http://www.europeansources.info/record/greco-finnish-deal-reopens-bail-out-debate/

Helsingin Sanomat, 25.8.11: Finland sticks to demand for collateral http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finland+sticks+to+demand+for+collateral/1135268827200

EUObserver, 31.8.11: Finland on Greek collateral: 'It's not about the money' http://euobserver.com/19/113476

EUObserver, 26.8.11: Finland abandons Greek collateral deal under German pressure http://euobserver.com/19/113422

Helsingin Sanomat, 5.10.11: Finland will pay for Greece http://www.presseurop.eu//en/content/news-brief-cover/1024451-finland-will-pay-greece

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