German Lawyers to Sue Greece, Banks Over Debt Swap
Lawyers in Germany representing 110 Greek bond holders said on Monday they have formed a class action group and intend to sue banks and the Greek state following last week’s Greek bond swap, which slashed more than 100 billion euros (84.15 billion pounds) from Athens’ debt.
The Hamburg legal firm said most of the investors had spent 100,000-500,000 euros on Greek paper, although the highest investment reached 3 million euros.
It did not name any of the banks it might target.
The suit, likely to be filed in Washington, will claim banks failed to properly advise clients about the risks of Greek paper and seek compensation.
Separately, lawyers will argue that Greece, in orchestrating a debt swap, infringed against a German-Greek investment treaty intended to protect German investors from political risk.
Lawyer Matthias Groepper of legal firm Groepper Koepke said those who had agreed to the terms of the debt swap would be unable to claim compensation.
This would prevent any suit derailing the overall deal.