The toxic assets currently plaguing the German banking system are for the most part complex mortgage-backed securities originating in the US housing market. The anonymity of the US-based original borrowers and the large number of intermediate institutions involved in the packaging and onward sale of these securities represent serious impediments to the identification of the relevant counterparties for debt restructuring. Hence, there are fewer instruments available for restricting the bad bank’s losses than in the past. Basically, the tools are limited to the purchase price, the securing of additional time to sell assets at an opportune moment and.
