European Commission Pressures WestLB Of Germany To Privatize

Brussels, Belgium (AHN) - The European Commission is threatening Germany's WestLB to collect back billions of euro it got as public bailout money. If the EC will make good its threaten, it may spell disaster for the German economy.

European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes is pushing WestLB to significantly improve its restructuring package, otherwise the EC will disapprove the public assistance the EU has given the bank and make it reimburse the $16.9 billion (12 billion euro) bailout fund.

Heinz Hilgert, head of WestLB, lamented the public threat of Kroes. He told Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung he had no opportunity yet to present the restructuring plan of the German bank to Kroes.

Kroes is pushing the WestLB, which is state-owned, to be privatized. With the help of the bailout money, WestLB registered a $927 million (657 million euro) profit before taxes for the first six months of 2008.