If the Greeks were the victims of extend-and-pretend, who were the beneficiaries? Billions of euros from the first tranche of the May 2010 program were disbursed to Athens, which in turn paid them to its creditors. Those who were lucky enough to hold debt expiring in 2010 or 2011 were paid on time and in full. Those banks that decided to cut their losses and sell out could find buyers among the hedge funds who picked up debt for as little as 36 cents on the euro, gambling that things could only get better and that in the worst case they would get some cut of a final settlement.
