Greek government bonds not a protected "investment" for the purposes of an investment arbitration claim arising out of the 2012 Greek haircut

In 2010, Poštová Banka (the “Bank”) acquired on the secondary market, from primary dealers, interests in government bonds issued by Greece between 2007 and 2010 (the “Bonds”). In 2011, the Bonds were downgraded by various ratings agencies, which prompted the Greek government to pass the Greek Bondholders Act 2012. This Act enabled the Bonds' terms to be amended by a two-third majority vote of bondholders, the quorum for the vote being set at half of the amount outstanding of all eligible titles. Further to the restructuring of Greece’s sovereign debt in 2012, it was proposed that the Bonds be subject to a haircut by way of exchange for new securities worth less than half of their previous face value. Although the Bank voted against this measure, the exchange was approved by the requisite proportion of bond holders. In March 2012, the Bank therefore received the new securities in exchange for the Bonds it had previously held. Read more