, Columnist
Zombie Banks Are Only Half Buried
Government guarantees, bail-in fracas show states still on the hook
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Europe's zombie march of bank burials is stumbling closer to the finish line. But there's still trouble ahead.
The seven-year saga of bailed-out Austrian bank Hypo Alde Aldria, which has pitted Austrian politicians against private creditors over who should foot the bill for 11 billion euros ($12.4 billion) of guaranteed debt, seemed to be wrapping up on Wednesday. Investors holding about 5 billion euros' worth of debt in Heta Asset Resolution -- the "bad bank" designed to wind down Hypo over time -- have signed up to a compromise solution in which their losses will be softened by a new stack of zero-coupon bonds guaranteed by the Austrian taxpayer.