Ireland hints at negotiating a bond "haircut"

According to a report last evening from the FT by John Murray Brown in Dublin and David Oakley in London, published: October 6 2010 22:31, Ireland has given the first indication that it may look for a voluntary renegotiation of senior bond debt owed by its two state-owned banks in a bid to recoup part of the cost of its $70 billion bank bail-out that it announced last week.

Matthew Elderfield, the financial regulator, reportedly told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday the government had made clear it would not impose losses on senior bondholders at Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide building society. “However, this does not rule out the possibility of some negotiations or a liquidity management exercise agreed by consent.” Link.