83.5% of creditors join Greece debt swap

Greece on Friday said nearly 84 percent of its private creditors had joined in a landmark debt swap, a majority that enables it to force holdouts to also accept huge losses to their holdings. The Greek finance ministry said the holders of approximately 172 billion euros of Greek debt had tendered their bonds for exchange, some 83.5 percent of the 206 billion euro target for which Athens had been hoping. It added that upon confirmation by the Bank of Greece, the state "intends to accept the consents received and amend the terms of all of its Greek law governed bonds, including those not tendered for exchange." Activating the so-called collective action clauses will boost participation to 95.7 percent, the ministry said.