Greek Debt Composition 2012

One reason the Northern European countries bailout out Greece was because banks, for example German en French banks, heavily invested in Greek government debt. Since then the European Commission (EFSF) and the ECB have bought quite a lot of debt from the banks. This means that the bond holders of Greek debt shifted from only private parties to mostly public holders now.

This means that when there would be a second round of writedowns on Greek debt the European tax payer will have to pay as well.

Europe's Web Of Debt

I came across this graph by the New York Times from 2010 which perfectly pictures the contagion in the Euro Zone. Northern countries and banks have over the last one and a half year sold quite some PIIGS government debt. So although the data don't reflect current amounts of what countries owe other countries and banks at the moment, it does show very well how the countries are linked. Like in this post especially notice the big arrow from Italy to France, but also the big arrow from Spain to Germany.

Exposure To China

This map shows the countries that are most dependent on the Chinese economy. Especially for Hong Kong and Mongolia is China a very important trade partner. A hard landing in the Chinese economy would have enormous impacts on these countries economies.

On the other hand a positive note for Greece is that it has a low exposure to the Chinese economy. So it won't see many directly negative effects when the Chinese economy slows down. Although it might encounter second hand negative effects when other trading partners which are dependent on China import less in Greece.

Business Insider

Bank Exposure To Ireland (March 2011)

This graph from Reuters shows the countries with the banks which have the biggest exposure to Ireland. It specifies exposure to both public sector debt and to Irish banks debt. The countries with the biggest exposure are the UK and Germany. 

Reuters

Bank Exposure To Greece (March 2011)

This graph from Reuters shows the countries with the banks which have the biggest exposure to Greece. It specifies exposure to both public sector debt and debt to Greek banks debt. The countries with the biggest exposure are Germany and France. Exposure to Greece for German and French banks are is not comparable to exposure to Italy and Spain.

Reuters

Stress Test: Exposure to PIIGS in all Euro Zone Countries

This picture from the Wall Street Journal graphs the exposure of the large banks in all Euro Zone countries (which were subject to the recent stress test) to the PIIGS countries.

Wall Street Journal

Bank Stress Test With Higher Capital Requirements: 53 banks fail

Reuters made an interactive graph in which you can see how many banks fail with higher capital requirements than used in the bank stress test which was published last Friday. With 8 percent Core Tier 1 Capital 53 banks fail to meet the selected capital requirement and in that case these banks need to raise 101 billion to meet the capital criteria.

Reuters

Banks Exposure as a % of Captial To PIIGS Government Bonds

The Economist made the next graph with the Northern Eurozone Banks Exposure as a % of Captial To PIIGS Government Bonds. The economist says: 'A Greek default could precipitate defaults in other euro-area countries. Partly because banks have reduced their holdings of Irish and Portuguese bonds, they should be able to cope if these countries joined Greece in default or in restructuring their debts. However, if contagion were to spread to Spain or Italy, and banks had to accept losses on their governments’ bonds, the sums would look grim even for some banks outside the affected countries. Italy owes €1.8 trillion, or 120% of a far bigger GDP than Greece’s, Ireland’s or Portugal’s.'

Due to a request by the Economist this graph has been removed. 

View the graph here

Who has claims on the PIGS CDS derivatives?

This chart shows the exposure from European and United States Banks to Credit Default Swaps in the PIGS countries. Business Insider: 'a default woud trigger a ''credit event'' payout on these insurance.'

Bond Vigilantes

Banks Exposure To Greece

The new publication by the Bank of International Settlements published the new Quarterly Review. In there new date of banks exposure to Greece has been made public. You can see that France and Germany have the most at stake in Greece.
 

Source: BIS (Page 102)

Bank Exposure To PIIGS As A Percentage Of GDP

Bank exposure to the PIGS - public and private debt - as a percenatage of GDP in Q4 2010. This chart from Business Insider shows the total stake foreign banks of selected countries have in the public and private debt of the PIGS countries. You can see that Greece is not the big problem.

Source: Business Insider

Infographic: Greece Debts are Europe's Problem

Source: Ritholtz

Exposure of Dutch Banks to PIGS

From a paper of the Central Dutch Planningbureau (CPB) I got this graph showing the exposure of the biggest Dutch Banks to (from left to right) Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Source: CPB

Banks exposure of countries contributing to the Euro bail-out funds

The Economist: 'While Germany is footing much of the bill for the euro-area bail-out, it may be saving its own banks too'.

                           Due to a request by the Economist this graph has been removed. 


                                                View the graph here