Unstructured Finance

By Katya Wachtel

Yes, Germany and Greece have been in a war of words in the unfolding crisis over the latter’s membership in the euro zone, but this afternoon the two nations face off in a different (and far more entertaining) way: they go head-to-head in the European Championship quarterfinal.

As Reuters’ Alexander Hudson reports from Poland, the setting of tonight’s more-than-just-a-game battle, “When Greece take the football field in the Polish coastal city of Gdansk… the honor of the nation is at stake.” Greece, by the way, has never beaten Germany on the soccer pitch.

Closer to home, with the NBA season now officially over – congrats to our Miami Heat fans – there’s a little more time for some weekend reading…

From New York Magazine:

Cleary Gottlieb attorney Lee Buchheit has the cure for debt-laden Greece, Spain and Italy, writes Jessica Pressler.

From Dealbook:

Is lying different from stealing in matters of securities fraud, Steven Davidoff asks in his column, comparing the crimes of Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling with those of convicted insider traders Rajaratnam and Gupta.

By Matthew Goldstein

A few weeks ago S&P telegraphed that it would soon strip the U.S. of its vaunted Triple A rating and downgrade the government’s debt by a slight notch to AA+. And Friday night, the major credit rating did just as it telegraphed.

For the moment, let’s not debate whether S&P is engaging in politics, or should even be in the business of rating the debt of countries. The latter issue, however, is something that our nation’s political leaders and regulators may want to consider at some point.

But for right now, it’s worth noting that over the past decade or so, S&P has moved on downgrading corporate debt and esoteric securities as if it was still operating in the days of the telegraph.