05:47 PM EDT, 10/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Adds response from the German banking regulator Bafin.)

Deutsche Bank ( DB ) is one of four banks are seeking to recover their share of 2.3 billion euros ($2.48 billion) levied by German regulators for a recovery fund created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, according to media reports.

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking repayment from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as Bafin, include Unicredit and DZ Bank, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. It did not identify the fourth plaintiff in the case. Bloomberg and German publication Borsen-Zeitung said as many as 400 lenders want to recover money they paid into the fund years ago. Borsen-Zeitung reported the story earlier.

The banks argue the German fund is unnecessary because the European Union has created a similar mechanism to support the regional economy during financial upheaval, but the German government wants to instead transfer the money to its Financial Market Stabilization Fund.

In a statement to MT Newswires, a Bafin spokesperson said the agency, as a public entity, "cannot decide independently on the use or repayment of the money. The further use of the funds can only be regulated by legislation."

Deutsche Bank ( DB ) did not return messages from MT Newswires seeking comment.