German Bundestag approves "bad bank" bill

The Bundestag of the German parliament 3rd approved a bill to create "bad banks" to help Germany's banks get rid of their baggage and recover from the financial crisis as soon as possible. According to AFP, the bill allows private banks to move risky and non-core assets to an independent agency to be built, clean up their balance sheets and prepare for new loans to recession-hit economies.　　But private banks must pay a fee to this independent institution, known as the "bad bank".　　Under the plan, banks could exchange state-guaranteed bonds with riskier asset-backed securities and secured debt certificates, but banks would be required to pay state-guaranteed fees. reported that the German private banks involved in the bill "toxic assets" worth as much as 230 billion euros (about 320 billion U.S. dollars). "Bad banks" "keep" these risky assets for the longest period of 20 years. (according to Xinhua)