JPMorgan has offered to buy back a Greek state bond it underwrote that ended up with Greek pension funds amid accusations by ministers that the structured bond was overpriced, Sign On San Diego reports.
The affair has been in the headlines for weeks, leading to the resignation of a state pension fund head and hurting the government’s popularity during an election year.
JPMorgan said in a statement it was offering to buy back the structured bond, hoping others involved in its subsequent sale would follow its example, in an effort to protect the interests of both the Greek state and pension funds.
The structured 280-million-euro bond, which was issued on Feb. 22, 2007 with an initial coupon of 6.25 percent and terminates in 2019, changed several hands before ending up with the public servants auxiliary pension fund. Following press revelations and accusations by government ministers that the fund paid too much for the bond, the government appointed a special investigator to probe the case, banned funds from investing in structured bonds and revamped legislation of how they invest their money.