Greek Restructuring Would Be 'Manageable'

Wall Street Journal
May 24, 2011

The major challenge with any Greek debt restructuring would be to convince financial markets that it would be a one-off event rather than the first in a series for Europe, Société Générale Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea said Tuesday.

Société Générale is a large holder of Greek sovereign debt, but Mr. Oudea said in an interview he had not been formally approached by governments or other banks to participate in a restructuring of Greek debt.

"The question is how do you explain to the markets that it is one-off, unique, that Greece has done everything it could to reimburse" its creditors, said Mr. Oudea. Such a demonstration would be important for the country in getting new loans in future, he said.

There could also be a ripple effect. "The question is not in itself the principal of having the private sector (involved), but it's the consequences of such a decision," he said. There are consequences for "how the market will look at the European Union and each country."

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