(BERLIN) - Troubled German bank IKB's exposure to the risky US home loans sector is greater than previously thought, according to the weekly Der Spiegel to be published Monday.

IBK and its affiliates or associates extended a total of 7.8 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars) in the US mortgage sector, more than twice the 3.5 billion hitherto considered likely by financial experts, Der Spiegel said.

IBK itself invested 544 million euros, its Luxembourg-based subsidiary 757 million and the Rhineland Funding Capital Corporation, managed by the bank, a massive 6.5 billion, it said.

IKB (Deutsche Industriebank) specialises in funding small and medium-sized companies but its involvement in the US property market has brought it close to collapse.

Other banks, including its main shareholder, the state-owned KfW bank, have extended it credit totalling 8.1 billion euros, but the move has alarmed the European Commission, which has given Germany less than a month to show that the rescue package did not break EU competition laws.

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