Irish lower house passes bad bank law

DUBLIN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The lower house of Ireland's parliament voted on Thursday to pass a law establishing a 54-billion euro "bad bank" to the upper house.

More amendments are expected to be introduced in the senate next week, which means it will have to return to the lower house for a final vote, which the government hopes to hold on Nov. 12, before it can go to the president to become law.

If approved, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the bad bank, will start transferring risky commercial property loans from banks including Allied Irish Banks (ALBK.I) and Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I), around the end of the year.

Thursday's decision -- which was carried by 77 votes for and 73 against -- does not complete the parliamentary approval process but it sends an important signal to markets which have sold off Irish bank shares on worries about the slow progress of the legislation. (Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)