Standard & Poor’s has declared Greece in “selective default”

AL JAZEERA:  Ratings firm Standard & Poor’s has declared Greece in “selective default” after banks agreed to write off more than half of their Greek debt holdings in a second EU bailout of the country.

The rating was lowered from S&P’s already junk-level “CC” grade for Greece, which has been seeking to avoid an outright default on its massive debt by negotiating a “voluntary” debt exchange with creditors.

But S&P said on Monday the terms Greece put in the tentative deal agreed last Tuesday, which amounts to a 53.5 per cent writedown, forced the downgrade…  (more)