And the good news is that French and German banks have basically agreed to this, in contravention of the fear that they could not withstand any change to their holdings at all. The plan is to roll over their 5-year debt into 30-year debt (reducing Greece payments), while also getting a few other sweeteners.
But there is one possible hitch: The ratings agencies might call this a default, which could wreck the plan. An earlier report indicated that the ratings agencies would let the plan go, calling it Kosher (even though, clearly, someone rolling 5-year debt into 30-year debt has taken a big hit to the net-present value of their current holdings).
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/will-ratings-agencies-wreck-the-greek-bailout-2011-7#ixzz1R68yt8hV
Actually, the ratings agencies have said from the very beggining that ANY modification of the debt, voluntary or not, will be considered a default. Germany knew this, France knew this, but they both continued ahead with their plan to accept voluntary restructuring from the banks.
