Dealers tackle euro redenomination risks

Dealers have been busy war-gaming eurozone break-up scenarios in recent months. But one of the most complex, and uncertain, areas is what would happen to derivatives contracts in the event one or more member states leave the eurozone. By Matt Cameron

The dealer sitting on the other side of the meeting-room table is not used to being nonplussed. As the head of trading risk at a large European bank, he spends his days grappling with exotic second- and third-order exposures - but at the moment, he is silent, brows furrowed, eyes downcast.

"Actually, we haven't thought about that. It's a good question, but we haven't looked at it," he says eventually. His answer to the follow-up question is shorter: "I don't know," he says.

To be fair, no-one