Speculators, beware.
From Reuters on Monday:
Germany’s financial watchdog has taken steps to identify speculators in Greek debt to ensure they do not benefit unduly from any rescue of Greece, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The probe is part of delicate deliberations in Germany as to whether it should help bail out Greece, which is grappling with mounting debts.
“It would be bad if it were to emerge after a rescue that the money had gone into the pockets of speculators,” the source told Reuters.
It’s practically a given these days that in the midst of any real or imagined sovereign crisis, there’ll be a politician-driven attempt to crackdown on evil CDS/derivatives speculators.
See also: I(r)(c)eland, and Christine Lagarde (via Reuters):
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Sunday she personally believed that derivatives on sovereign debt, such as credit default swaps (CDS), had to be either tightly regulated, limited or even banned.
…
“I think that derivative products… the CDS on sovereign debt have to be at least very, very regulated, rigorously regulated, limited or banned, this is a personal position on financial instruments,” Lagarde told Europe 1 radio.
Related links:
Goldman role in Greek crisis probed – FT
Get Goldman (and those evil speculators) – FT Alphaville
The Spanish inquisition – FT Alphaville