Banks meet IIF in Rome for Greece talks: source
International banks will hold a further round of talks on Thursday aimed at finding a way to contribute to Greece's second debt bailout after an earlier French plan ran aground.
Banks will meet with lobbying group the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in Rome on Thursday, an Italian Treasury source said.
Thursday's meeting follows similar talks organized by the IIF in Paris on Wednesday at which a menu of options was discussed for involving private sector creditors in an aid package for Greece, according to Charles Dallara, the managing director of the bank lobby group.
The officials are trying to work out a solution which would enable private sector creditors to take part in a voluntary deal which would not be defined as a default by ratings agencies but agreement is proving complicated.
A French proposal for a rollover in which bondholders would reinvest at least 70 percent of the proceeds from bonds maturing before the end of 2014 in new 30-year Greek debt has run into ratings agency objections.
Officials are now looking at a broader range of options.
There's going to be an exchange of views on developments so far and the solutions currently on the table for the involvement of private creditors, the Treasury source said.
Different possibilities will be discussed, not just one solution, the source added.
The meeting will be chaired by Vittorio Grilli, director general of the Italian Treasury, in his capacity as chairman of the European Union Economic and Financial Committee.
Officials from the European Central Bank and the Greek government as well as international and Italian banking executives will attend, the source said.
An EU source also confirmed the meeting will take place in Rome and EU representatives will be attending, however, no representative from any of the ratings agencies is expected to be present.
On Thursday, Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager was quoted by the daily Het Financieele Dagblad as saying that private sector banks must be pressured into taking part in a bailout as a voluntary deal was not realistic.
(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Patrick Graham)
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