http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...-warnings.html
Foreign holders of Greek and Portuguese debt have seized on emergency intervention by the European Central Bank to exit their positions, leaving eurozone taxpayers exposed to the credit risk.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Published: 6:57PM BST 17 May 2010
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Euro,dollar - Banks dump Greek debt on the ECB as eurozone flashes credit warnings
Euro,dollar - Banks dump Greek debt on the ECB as eurozone flashes credit warnings Photo: AFP/Getty Images
The Bank of New York Mellon said its custodial data showed a "sharp acceleration" of net sales of debt from the two countries after the ECB began purchasing €16.5bn of bonds from southern Europe and Ireland in bid to halt market panic. "It rather suggests that investors leapt at the opportunity to clear their balance sheets of intolerable risk," said Neil Mellor, the bank’s currency strategist. "This leaves the ECB itself in an unpleasant situation since it now faces a deterioration in its own balance sheet."