Spain overhauled its banks for the fifth time in three years on Friday in order to secure up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) in European aid for lenders crushed by bad loans resulting from the country’s extended property market crash.

The government created a so-called bad bank to take over tens of billions of euros in defaulted loans and unsaleable property and to accelerate the clean-up of the banking sector, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said.

The bad bank will begin operating in late November or early December, exist for between 10 and 15 years, and is intended to be profitable over that period so that Spanish taxpayers do not bear the burden of the bank rescue operation.

"The prices of these assets (that banks transfer to the bad bank) must ensure that the entity does not generate losses during its lifetime, something that is very important to minimize the impact on taxpayers," de Guindos told a news conference.

De Guindos also announced new rules for quicker and easier government takeovers of problem banks, a cut in pay for executives at banks that have been rescued by the state, and regulations that will keep banks from selling complex securities to unsophisticated investors.

Spain asked for a European rescue for its banks in June after it took over Bankia, a large lender that was particularly exposed to the property market, and found that it needed 19 billion euros to cover its losses.

De Guindos said Bankia could get emergency liquidity from the government before the European rescue funds are disbursed.