Under plan, government invests up to $87.5 billion in 8 of largest banks updated 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
LONDON - The British government said Wednesday it would partly nationalize major banks, with taxpayers taking a share stake in a bid to shore up a financial sector that many investors feared could not survive the global turmoil without government help.
"This is not a time for conventional thinking or outdated dogma but for the fresh and innovative intervention that gets to the heart of the problem," Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a news conference.
A half hour before markets opened Wednesday, the Treasury said it would be investing up to 50 billion pounds ($87.5 billion) in exchange for preference shares in eight of the county's largest banks and building societies: Abbey National PLC, Barclays PLC, HBOS PLC, HSBC Bank PLC, Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank. ...
Associated Press
Why shouldn't they? Everybody else seems to be doing it...
