Two reeling German banks tapped state funds for billions of euros in aid Friday, said dpa. Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the first German bank to nearly collapse in September, said it won 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) in guarantees from Soffin, a federal government agency with a 480-billion-euro war chest. HRE said the underpinning from Frankfurt-based Soffin would improve its liquidity and help it refinance debt that falls due up to January 15, 2009. The Munich-based mortgage lender was rescued by an earlier, 50-billion-euro batch of guarantees from the government and other commercial banks. The other bank needing a bail-out was one of Germany's nine landesbanks, which are run by various state governments.
