PARIS - SINCE the financial crisis began in August 2007, governments have stepped-up emergency aid to the financial sector. Here are the major public rescue plans announced to-date:
UNITED STATES
The Federal Reserve loans nearly US$30 billion (S$44.3 billion) to JPMorgan Chase to purchase Bear Stearns and prevent it from collapsing (March 16).
Mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are nationalised and receive US$200 billion (Sept 7).
Insurance company AIG is nationalised in exchange for an US$85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve (Sept 16).
The state seizes the assets of Washington Mutual and sells them to competitor JPMorgan Chase for US$1.9 billion (Sept 29).
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan authorises the state to unblock up to US$700 billion for buying toxic debt products accumulated by banks (Oct 3).
BRITAIN
Northern Rock is nationalised (Feb 17).
Bradford & Bingley is nationalised and its best assets resold to Spanish banking group Santander (Sept 29).
The government ushers in a $50 billion pound (S$128 billion) bailout plan for Britain's eight largest banks and announces a partial nationalisation of these institutions (Oct 8).
IRELAND
Dublin announces it will guarantee bank deposits in six Irish banks in the event that they fail (Oct 2).
ICELAND
The island nation's second and third largest banks, Landsbanki and Glitnir, are nationalised (Oct 7 and 8).
The state bails out Kaupthing, Iceland's largest bank, with 500 million euros (S$995 million) (Oct 7).
BENELUX AND FRANCE
The Netherlands rescues Fortis (Sept 29)
The bank's activities in Belgium and Luxembourg are transferred to French bank BNP Paribas (Oct 6). A separate Dutch- and Belgian-controlled structure, takes 10.4 billion euros of toxic products from Fortis.
Franco-Belgian bank Dexia is nationalised by Belgium and France in exchange for six billion euros of aid, of which Luxembourg contributes 400 million euros (Sept 30).
The Dutch government announces that it is to inject 10 billion euros into ING, one of the world's 20 biggest banks.
GERMANY
IKB receives seven billion euros as part of a bailout from the state, which then resells the bank to the US investor, Lone Star (Aug 21). Berlin announces it will guarantee up to 600 billion euros worth of losses.
The state guarantees up to 27 billion euros in a rescue plan for the German bank Hypo Real Estate (Sept 29). -- AFP
