How do you say “yikes” in German? That is a question many investors might ask right now when they look at IKB, the specialised German lender.

At the start of the week, IKB startled markets by admitting it had racked up vast losses on its credit portfolio – a move that prompted KfW, the German state bank, to underwrite around €8bn ($11bn) of IKB-owned securities. But, on Thursday, it emerged that IKB’s exposure to the subprime sector had somehow ballooned to €17bn – many times the total market capitalisation of the group.