[Reuters] EU regulators approve break-up of WestLB
[WDLG.UL] BRUSSELS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - WestLB [WDLG.UL] secured EU approval on Tuesday for a revamp that will see the bailed-out German bank slimmed down significantly, to offset billions of euros it received in state aid during the financial crisis. As part of the restructuring, WestLB will be split into a regional bank, the Verbundbank, and the rest of its activities, which will be sold off or transferred to a "bad bank" known as Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA), to be wound down. The costs of the operational wind-down are estimated at between 4.65 billion and 5.85 billion euros, to be borne by the owners of the bank and Germany's SoFFin rescue fund, the European Commission said in a statement. The Commission said the latest restructuring plan, which takes into account additional state aid granted to WestLB, once Germany's third-largest landesbank, complied with EU rules. "After June 30, 2012, WestLB will not engage in new banking business and will be transformed into a servicing platform including a run-down vehicle that holds legacy positions transferred to or hedged by EAA," the European Commission said in a statement. Savings banks and authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Germany's federal bank bailout fund SoFFin will fund the extra cost for setting up the servicing platform.