In an effort to calm turmoil in the U.S. financial market, President Bush announced an elaborate plan this morning to have the government buy equity shares in the largest banks, including: Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, and State Street Corp.. The purchases, which could amount to $250 billion, will come from the $700 billion available to the U.S. Department of Treasury thanks to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA). President Bush also mentioned that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will “temporarily guarantee” new debt issued by insured banks and the Federal Reserve will begin a new initiative and become a “buyer of last resort” for commercial paper. These measures will only be used as short term solutions to hopefully stabilize the U.S. financial market by spurring economic growth.
Read more in an article by the Wall Street Journal.