24/11/2010
GLG suggests a plan B to save Spain
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Ben Funnell, CIO, fixed income, at GLG Partners, estimates that the European financial stabilisation fund will not have enough resources to save Spain if need be, and that the authorities need to start coming up with a plan B, Expansión reports. The solution would consist of a restructuring of sovereign debt from peripheral EU countries. It would lead to losses for banks, largely those in the heart of Europe including French and German banks, and to cover this impact, the ECB would need toprint and inject money into these banks. Michael Saunders of Citi says that German, French, Italian and British banks have a total exposure of EUR789.13bn to Spanish, Greek, Irish and Portuguese government debt, of which EUR374.32bn are in Spain alone. Christian Tegllund, a market strategist at Saxo Bank, for his part, estimates that France and Germany will be obliged to lend money to Spain in a bilateral arrangement next year.
