Italy risks potential losses of billions of euros on derivatives contracts it restructured at the height of the eurozone crisis, according to a confidential government report that sheds more light on the tactics that enabled the debt-laden country to enter the euro in 1999.
A 29-page Treasury department report, obtained by the Financial Times, details Italy’s debt transactions and exposure in the first half of 2012, including the restructuring of eight derivatives contracts with foreign banks with a total notional value of €31.7bn.
While the report leaves out crucial details and appears intended not to give a full picture of Italy’s potential losses, experts who examined it told the FT that the restructuring allowed the cash-strapped Treasury to stagger payments owed to foreign banks over a longer period but, in some cases, at more disadvantageous terms.