Franco-Belgian banking group Dexia could face further troubles because of the bankruptcy declared by the US city Detroit, Belgian media reported Saturday.
In 2006, Dexia was among several European banks that invested in financial products offered by Detroit to help finance its pension fund.
The lender could now face losses up to €100 million ($131 million dollars), according to the Belga news agency.
The newspaper L’Echo reported that France’s Societe Generale and Germany’s Commerzbank also hold Detroit debt.
Dexia - whose operations once stretched across Belgium, France and Luxembourg - in 2011 became the first eurozone bank to need a rescue as a result of the debt crisis affecting the currency bloc. It has received several state bailouts.
Detroit, which gave birth to the traditional “Big Three” US carmakers - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, has suffered for decades from population flight, dwindling tax revenue and mismanagement by successive city administrations.
On Thursday, it filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection in federal court. At the time of its investment, Dexia had arranged protection against a municipal bankruptcy.