Bankers meet senior euro official on Greece crisis

By Stefano Bernabei

An Italian Treasury source said the Managing Director of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), Charles Dallara, met Vittorio Grilli, Director General at Italy's Treasury and chairman of the euro zone's Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) to discuss Greece's struggling to avoid default.

The source said Grilli was acting in his EFC rather than Treasury capacity.

A participant at the talks said international bankers first met at the offices of Intesa Sanpaolo and then moved to the Treasury for talks with Grilli and Dallara.

A Reuters reporter saw representatives from foreign banks including Barclays at the meeting.

"Mr Dallara is participating alongside others from the public and the private sectors in meetings in Rome," an IIF spokesman said.

He said Dallara had been meeting with a range of public officials and private creditor institutions in recent days to provide informal support to help a Greek bailout.

Last week, Dallara was in Athens to discuss the debt crisis.

Euro zone officials are working on ways to include banks in a second bailout for Greece without ratings agencies declaring a default.

A French banking source said on Sunday the French Treasury had reached a deal with banks to make a rollover more palatable to creditors.

A German banking source said a call was planned on Monday between banks and the German finance ministry to discuss their contribution to a Greek bailout.

The meeting would discuss whether the French scheme could be used as a blueprint for German banks, the source said.

(Additional reporting by Catherine Hornby and Giselda Vagnoni in Rome, Steve Slater in London, Kathrin Jones in Frankfurt; Writing by Barry Moody, editing by Mike Peacock)