DUBLIN (Reuters) - The upper house of Ireland's parliament voted late on Wednesday to pass a law establishing a 54-billion euro (49-billion pound) "bad bank" to the lower house, the Irish Times said on Thursday.

If approved in a final vote later on Thursday, the bad bank named the National Asset Management Agency, or NAMA, will start transferring risky commercial property loans from banks around the end of the year. The banks include Allied Irish Banks (ALBK.I: Quote, Profile, Research) and Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I: Quote, Profile, Research).

(Reporting Padraic Halpin; Editing by Jan Dahinten)