Linklaters is advising Deutsche Bank and HSBC on the restructuring of EUR 206bn Greek Government debt, in accordance with the Eurozone’s second ‘bail-out’ package for Greece.  The deal – which was described by Charles Dallara, the Managing Director of the Institute of International Finance as a deal “unprecedented in its size and scope” – is not only the world’s largest ever debt restructuring exercise, but it is also the world’s largest ever liability management transaction.

The transaction follows the 26 October 2011 Euro Summit Statement and is known as the Private Sector Involvement or PSI.  The PSI comprises an exchange offer and consent solicitation for 117 series of the bonds issued or guaranteed by Greece which are held in six different clearing systems. The PSI is part of Greece’s economic reform programme agreed with the European Monetary Fund to reduce Greece’s debt to GDP ratio to 120.5% by 2020.

The Linklaters team is led by capital markets partners Elaine Keats and Carson Welsh.