Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says he is not ruling out legal action against U.S. investment banks, which he says bear "great responsibility" for his country's debt crisis.
Mr. Papandreou told the Cable News Network Sunday that such action could be taken after the Greek parliament completes an examination of the rapid growth in Greek debt.
Lawmakers are probing whether the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs provided strategies in the past decade that helped Greek officials mask the extent of Greek debt through the use of complex financial instruments.
For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly called on EU governments to crack down on speculators who have driven up interest rates with comments about Greece's likely default on upcoming debt payments.
The Greek financial crisis and its threat to other eurozone countries forced the European Union and the International Monetary Fund this month to organize a $145 billion bailout for Greece, in return for Athens imposing severe spending cuts.
Separately, EU countries and the IMF have put up nearly one trillion dollars to stabilize the euro and defend it from speculators.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
