Greece Eyes Cash Collateral with Finland

Greek Vice-President and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Finland may be provided with collateral in exchange for providing fresh aid for Greece, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos revealed Wednesday.

"We are only speaking about guarantees of a financial nature...and guarantees that do not include claims on property," Evangelos Venizelos said in a radio interview, as cited by The Wall Street Journal.

In exchange for the Finnish contribution to Europe's temporary bailout facility, Greece would provide several hundred million Euro worth of cash collateral to the Nordic country.

At least EUR 20 billion of approximately EUR 109 B assistance package for Greece is earmarked for Greek banks, according to the German paper Handelsblatt. In return, the banks would be partially nationalized, after which bank shares would be given to the Eurozone countries as collateral.

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