Revamped bailout faces new vote
Written on October 1, 2008
A revamped financial rescue plan aimed at restoring market confidence faces a vote by the Senate late on Wednesday, reviving hopes that the lawmakers can turn the tide in the global banking crisis.
The crisis has toppled Wall St firms, frozen lending among global banks, and now dominates campaigning as Americans prepare to vote for their next president on November 4.
The revised package which the Senate unanimously agreed to vote on would now increase to $250,000 from $100,000 the amount of individual deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), seeking to shore up consumer and business confidence in banks and prevent a run on deposits.
The main aim of the plan remains, allowing the U.S. Treasury to buy toxic mortgage-related assets from banks in a move seen as the key to unlocking credit markets and heading off a deeper economic downturn in the United States and abroad.
It follows a $700 billion plan assembled by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and thrown out by the House of Representatives on Monday.
Lawmakers in Europe are also moving to protect borrowers, with Ireland unveiling a plan covering an estimated 400 billion euros in its banks’ liabilities on Tuesday and France pledging measures by the end of the week.
Wall Street giants Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have already been swallowed by rivals, and gone is the investment banking model which dominated for decades after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley sought commercial bank status.
Both U.S no teletrak payday loans. presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain from Arizona and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, had offered qualified support for the first version of the plan and are urging lawmakers to get the new one passed.
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