The Berlin Senate, the German capital's government, has passed a measure to guarantee the troubled Bankgesellschaft Berlin's potential liabilities for the next 30 years.

The Christian Democrats, the right of centre opposition party, rubberstamped the rescue plan for the bank after it nearly toppled through bad property debt from lending to former East Germany. The ruling coalition of Social Democrats and reformed Communists had already saved Bankgesellschaft Berlin from insolvency with a €1.7bn ($1.5bn) cash injection at the end of last year.