For investors around the world looking at Greece, there are worries right now.
Those worries are more acute for the hedge fund investors - including Dave Einhorn and John Paulson - who have collectively poured more than euro 10 billion into Greek government bonds, bank stocks and a slew of other investments.
This weekend, Nicholas L Papapolitis, a corporate lawyer here, was working around the clock comforting and cajoling his frantic hedge fund clients.
"People are freaking out," said the 32-year-old Papapolitis, his eyes red and his voice hoarse. "They have made some really big bets on Greece.
But there is no getting around the truth of the matter, he said. Without a deal with its European creditors, the country will default and Greek stocks and bonds will tank. Panicky depositors spent the weekend pulling an estimated euro 1 billion from the banking system, stashing the cash in their houses or exchanging them for bulging bags of gold coins.
A number of hedge funds have also made big bets on Greek banks, despite their thin levels of capital and non-performing loans of around 50 per cent of assets. They include Einhorn at Greenlight Capital and Paulson, both of whom have invested and lost considerable sums in Piraeus Bank. Fairfax Financial Holdings and the distressed investor Wilbur Ross own a large stake in Eurobank, one Greece's four main banks.
