In the exchange of bonds that were left out of PSI and swap, ODDIH proceeds

Her Eleftherias Kourtali

The Public Debt Management Organization (ODDIH) is exchanging PSI bonds that did not participate in the 2017 swap with (new) existing bonds, while JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Goldman Sachs will run the whole project. , Deutsche Bank and Piraeus Bank. The organization sent an invitation today to the holders of these securities who must respond by Friday, December 10, while a week later, on December 17, the settlement date is set.

This move has been under consideration for some time and concerns securities of around € 4 billion which were left out of the PSI restructuring and have extremely low liquidity. Their maturities range from 2023 to 2042 and these securities cannot be liquidated until their maturity date. The fact that securities with long maturities – for example from 2028 onwards – exceed 2.1 billion euros, makes the exchange quite attractive for the holders, with Greek Government bonds that are already in circulation (and not with some new version). The exchange can be done with other (specific) titles – that is, new titles of the series that have already been issued by the Greek State, and / or cash.

The offer (in case of exchange of securities) is more detailed as follows: PSI securities expiring in 2023-2027 can be exchanged for a Greek bond maturing in 2027. Securities expiring in 2028-2032 can be exchanged for a bond expiring in 2033, securities maturing 2033-2036 can be exchanged for a bond maturing in 2037 and securities maturing 2037-2042 can be exchanged for a Greek bond maturing in 2042.

The invitation is made in the context of a wider program implemented by the Greek State for the management of its obligations, and the exchange may concern all or part of these securities (with other securities or cash). The purpose is to align the terms of the outstanding debt with market standards for government issuers in order to smooth the yield curve and provide the market with a limited set of benchmarks that are expected to have more liquidity than PSI-specific securities.