Fifteen banks and insurance firms have applied for support from the German government's 500 billion euro ($644 billion) rescue fund, an executive from the fund was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Berlin's financial industry rescue fund, SoFFin, had received some 150 queries from financial institutions overall, Guenther Merl, the spokesman for SoFFin's executive committee, was quoted as saying by the Boersenzeitung daily.

Out of 17 formal applications to the fund for help, two had been withdrawn, Merl said, adding that he could imagine a further 15 institutions approaching the fund in the future.

In recent weeks, Germany's No. 2 lender Commerzbank , troubled property financier Hypo Real Estate and several state-owned landesbanks have said they intend to tap the fund, which provides liquidity and guarantees to bolster banks' capital.

The fund had granted some 90 billion euros in guarantees so far, with Commerzbank the only applicant to have been granted a capital injection, of 8.2 billion euros.