FRANKFURT, Oct 15 (Reuters) - German rescue fund SoFFin has considerable doubts about the viability of HSH Nordbank's business model, a source close to SoFFin told Reuters on Thursday.
Members of SoFFin made their concerns clear at a parliamentary hearing in Berlin, the person said.
Without a viable business model, the state-controlled, regional bank is not allowed to take set up a "bad bank" into which it can transfer toxic assets.
German daily paper Handelsblatt said on Thursday that SoFFin did not think the bank's business was sustainable in the medium term and was relied too much on shipping finance.
Handelsblatt also said SoFFin felt HSH was being too optimistic about its business prospects and doubted whether HSH would be able to return to profitability by 2011, citing people familiar matter.
A spokeswoman for HSH said the bank had drawn up a comprehensive restructuring concept and was confident it would not need additional capital.
"The chief executive was clear in September when he said over the next couple of years HSH will not need additional capital", she said. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Alexander Huebner; writing by Edward Taylor; editing by Karen Foster)