Greece is planning to offer banks guarantees worth up to €9bn ($10bn) to cut their bad-debt mountain.
This is according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
The deal hinges on whether the European Commission clears it as legal state aid. A decision is expected within weeks, the sources added.
Greek lenders have about €75bn of bad debt on their books, which leads to provision costs and limits on new lending.
The asset protection scheme could reduce that by at least €20bn, according to a government estimate.
The debt will be transferred to a company that will issue senior, mezzanine and junior bonds.
It will remain on the banks' books, but will be guaranteed by the state.
The Commission is in contact with Greek authorities on an asset protection scheme, a commission spokesman said, without elaborating.
Shipping lenders like Piraeus Bank, Eurobank, Alpha Bank and National Bank of Greece have been offloading assets worth billions in recent months.
Italy has been operating a similar scheme to the proposed Greek one.
