05/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - In a ruling issued on Wednesday 3 March on Cases T-163/05 and T-36/06, the EU Court of First Instance upheld the European Commission's decisions on the transfer of two special investment funds, the Wohnungswesen und Zukunftsinvestition and the Hessischer Investitionsfonds, to Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba), one of Germany's biggest banks. The Commission took the view that although certain elements of state aid were involved, “the assets made available to Helaba to underpin its competitive business could not be classified as state aid”. The Association of German Banks (Bundesverband deutscher Banken) took the view that the entire contribution should have been classified as state aid and challenged the Commission's decision at the European Court of First Instance, which has rejected its appeal. For further information, see http: //curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo1_6308/. (O.L./transl.fl)