(FRANKFURT) - German regional bank BayernLB said on Friday it needed a 10-billion-euro (13-billion-dollar) public bailout, 3.6 billion euros more than it originally asked for a month ago.

The Munich-based bank, sent into a tailspin by the international financial crisis along with other public-owned German banks, said it would ask for seven billion euros in fresh capital from the state of Bavaria.

A further three billion euros will come out of Chancellor Angela Merkel's 480-billion-euro banking rescue package cobbled together last month, BayernLB said in a statement.

It said is also seeking 15 billion euros in loan guarantees.

In October BayernLB became the first German bank to apply for help under Merkel's emergency scheme, applying for 5.4 billion euros from Bavaria and one billion euros from Berlin.

German politicians were quick to blame "Anglo-Saxon" excesses for allowing banks to take on highly risky investments which turned sour and brought the global financial system close to collapse in September and October.

But German banks, and in particular the state-owned regional landesbanks, were enthusiastic participants in the boom years and have now become major casualties.

Landesbanks moved into higher-risk lending after the European Commission stripped them of state guarantees in 2005. These had given them top-notch credit ratings allowing them to borrow cheaply and undercut private rivals.

The landesbanks' woes have increased pressure on them from the government and from the local savings banks that own them, to consolidate in order to reduce costs and make them more resistant to shocks.

Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW), the biggest regional bank, said last Friday it was raising five billion euros in fresh capital and 15 and 20 billion euros in loan guarantees.

It also said it would consider merging with BayernLB.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.