Munich-based Hypo Real Estate applied for the federal government to guarantee €15 billion in short-term loans. It said it would also ask for an unspecified amount of cash.
"The utilization of the [rescue] fund is expected to cover the group's additional funding requirements once the liquidity facilities extended by the [rescue] consortium have been disbursed, thus providing the basis for the medium-term repositioning of the group," the bank said.
Hypo is the first private bank to reach for the government fund. Munich's BayernLB, a public sector Landesbank, has already applied for €5.4 billion in cash, and publicly owned peers HSH Nordbank AG and WestLB are expected to follow suit. Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank, has said it won't need any help while No. 2 listed lender Commerzbank AG said it was studying the program. - Andrew Bulkeley
