UK plan to support lending rebuffed
French officials on Thursday said Paris would not follow a British proposal to provide medium-term guarantees for interbank lending, casting fresh doubts on the ability of the world’s seven richest nations to present a common front when their finance ministers meet in Washington on Friday.
Bank crisis: IMF makes emergency funding available
The activation of the emergency facility, for the first time since it was last used in the 1990s Asian crisis, was ordered by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the IMF and was the latest indication of the mounting fallout from the financial convulsions sweeping the world.
Canada’s Dollar Falls to the Lowest in 18 Months as Oil Drops
The currency has depreciated 5.3 percent so far this week following a fall of 4.5 percent during the period through Oct. 3, which was the biggest weekly loss since at least January 1971 when Bloomberg records begin. Canada relies on commodities for about half its export revenue. The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner.
Iceland suspends trading for 2 days
Iceland suspended trading on its stock exchange for two days and took control of the country’s largest bank – the third to be placed under its protective umbrella – on Thursday as it grappled with a banking crisis that is threatening to engulf the entire country.
Paulson ‘actively’ eyes bank investment
At a White House briefing on Thursday, Perino confirmed reports that the United States could soon join the United Kingdom, Iceland and Italy in announcing a plan to inject capital directly into their troubled banking systems.
Morgan Stanley shares plunge on Mitsubishi UFJ deal
Morgan Stanley plunged by as much as 25 percent on Thursday on concern about the status of a planned $9 billion investment by Japan’s top bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
Franco-Belgian Dexia given state guarantees for borrowing
France, Belgium and Luxembourg took a leaf out of Gordon Brown’s book as they pledged to guarantee borrowing by Dexia, the crisis-hit Franco-Belgian local government lender.
