On "Meet the Press" on April 19, Mr. Summers said one option for increasing the banks' capital was "asset liability swaps," by which he meant a voluntary exchange of loan forgiveness for equity.
In November, Mr. de Montebello met in Rome with Rocco Buttiglione, Italy's culture minister, and proposed the idea of some returns in exchange for loans of work of "equivalent beauty and importance".
In 2006 the Met signed an agreement with Italy to return the famous Euphronios krater, a Hellenistic silver collection and four other antiquities in exchange for loans of some of the items and other pieces.
Shinsei used the provision to shift to the government 200 billion yen, or more than $1.8 billion at current exchange rates, of loans it made to the Sogo Company, a failing department store operator.
At the same time, he adds, donors must guard against corruption by setting up "systems of accountability" in exchange for loans and grants.
It is understandable that some of Greece's partners have lost patience with the country's political leadership, which has repeatedly failed to deliver on promises of reform in exchange for loans.
The proxy also says that one bank executive, who is not identified, has pledged 500,000 shares of Goldman stock in exchange for loans from the bank.
Syriza and its coalition partners had hoped to receive temporary support from the ECB while it holds debt restructuring talks with its creditors, but Wednesday's decision by the Frankfurt-based bank, which tightened the rules on the collateral Greek banks can post in exchange for loans, made the prospects of short-term support appear bleak.
And commercial bank officials were unsure of what collateral could be exchanged for loans.
In exchange for €200bn (£170bn) of loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, Greece has instituted a series of painful tax hikes, wage cuts and financial reforms in an effort to put its house in order.
A variety of factors motivate migrants to remit, including altruism, insurance, exchange and repayment of loans (see Lucas and Stark 1985; Stark 2009; Foster and Rosenzweig 2001; Agarwal and Horowitz 2002).
