The management of Hypo Real Estate was expected to resign yesterday after the second bail-out in a week raised serious questions about the future of the German property lender.

People close to the bank said Georg Funke, Hypo Real Estate’s chief executive, was willing to resign in the coming days.

Funke is under intense pressure after a €50bn ($67.4bn) lifeline had to be thrown to the bank in a lastminute rescue effort by the German government and the banking and insurance industries early yesterday.

German politicians demanded the resignation of both Funke and Kurt Viermetz, Hypo Real Estate’s chairman of the supervisory board. Viermetz, who is under similar pressure from hedge funds to resign as chairman of Deutsche Börse, could not be reached for comment.

Financial Times