Collective action clauses (Cac), the way to redenominate the debt of a state in the event of an "exit"

Government bonds are subject to collective action clauses (CAC). Issues of Italian government bonds with a maturity of more than one year are subject to these rules by the 2013. The rules, writes Affari e Finanza, are applied throughout the Eurozone and derive from the Treaty establishing the Salvastati Fund. CACs are a legal tool to facilitate an orderly debt restructuring by allowing investors to change terms and conditions of payment in a legally binding manner. The agreements govern the possibility of renaming the securities in the event of a currency exchange - Euroexit. The Cac clauses make it possible to separately estimate the risk of redenomination - exit from the euro - and the tax risk, default. The debt of a sovereign country is in principle governed by the law of the state and the Cac is regulated by international law. The issue was the subject of discussion at the summit between Germany and France in Mesberg on 20 June. Merkel and Macron have entered into the details of the CAC rules proposing their strengthening with clauses that simplify negotiations with creditors. The technical and political reactions in Italy have been weak, yet these are issues of great economic and political importance. The Cac problem is relevant only for countries that have a not negligible probability of restructuring (it does not affect France and Germany). Italy, on the other hand, which could be interested, remained passive in the Franco-German discussion on the CAC. It is a must, writes Business and Finance that citizens and political representatives have all the elements of information and evaluation of an objectively complex situation. To avoid confrontation, it is often argued that in any case the ECB will be able to intervene as in 2012 to favor public debt support and guarantee the stability of the Eurozone. The Qe is destined for a gradual return. A prolonged period of negative rates is a drug that causes addiction and has strong contraindications: it involves distortions and has negative implications. If the Qe were to continue, it would lead the Eurozone to a defeat for not having reached the growth targets but having reached inflation. The European Community, however, provides for forms of support for countries that may encounter situations of debt stress. The country in difficulty can turn to the Salvastati Fund (ESM). In the case of a large country with high debt, an appropriate Eurosystem liquidity shield would be needed. The ECB would intervene in support of the ESM with a different program for the purchase of government bonds of the country in difficulty, namely the Omt -Outright Monetary Transaction. It is a mechanism approved in August 2012 (it was never approved by the Bundesbank) but it was never used. Among the characteristics, the OMT is bound to the same conditionality defined by the ESM and the government bonds purchased do not enjoy priority in the event of restructuring but receive the same treatment as creditors. Omts are a form of insurance against the risk of debt redenomination.

 

Collective action clauses (Cac), the way to redenominate the debt of a state in the event of an "exit"

| Economics |