The pattern

As if more confirmation was needed, here is an example from Europe which is almost "fiction-like" in the way it illustrates the fundamental facts of this situation: an attempt by German banks and the German government to bail-out another German bank - Hypo Real Estate - has failed. According to this report:

HRE was hobbled by debts incurred by a German-Irish subsidiary, Depfa, which it bought in October 2007, after the international financial crisis emerged with the collapse of the US market for high-risk, or subprime, mortgages.

Depfa specialises in the financing of public works projects. (emphasis mine)