Insolvency proceedings have been launched for Germany's Greensill Bank a week after the collapse of its British owner, financial services firm Greensill, a court said Tuesday. The proceedings began for Bremen-based Greensill Bank "at the request of (financial regulator) Bafin", the court in Bremen said in a statement. Bafin had ordered a freeze on the bank's activities in early March because of a risk that its debt would become unmanageable. The savings of private Greensill Bank customers are mostly safe because they fall within the scope of a compensation fund organised by private lenders that covers up to 75 million euros ($90 million) per account. However, several municipalities and one German region stand to lose several hundred million euros of public money invested with the bank, whose assets were worth an estimated 4.5 billion euros. Some 20 municipalities in the country have at least 250 million euros invested with Greensill Bank, according to an AFP estimate. Troubled UK finance firm Greensill went into administration on March 8 after encountering serious financial difficulties. The firm specialised in short-term corporate loans via a complex and opaque business model that had led to mounting doubts over its assets. jpl-fec/dlc/wai