The United States is developing plans to buy equity stakes in financial
institutions, providing another weapon in its war against financial market
turmoil.

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 10, 2008) POOL -
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday (October 10)
the United States was developing plans to buy equity in financial institutions
if necessary to halt market turmoil.
After a meeting of top economic officials of the Group of Seven major
industrialized nations he said the program aims to encourage the raising of
new private capital to complement the public capital injections. It would use
authority created by a broad financial rescue package that Congress passed
last week,
Paulson said the G7 central bank governors and finance ministers
"finalized an aggressive action plan to address the turmoil in global
financial markets and the stresses on our financial institutions. This action
plan provides a coherent framework that will direct our individual and
collective policy steps to provide liquidity to markets, strengthen financial
institutions, protect savers and enforce investor protections."
Paulson said it was critical for governments to continue to take both
individual and collective actions to stabilize markets and restore confidence
in the financial system.
He also said that to make sure the actions of one country do not come
at the expense of others or the system as a whole, the G7 finance leaders will
stay in close contact as they move forward with their responses to the crisis.

He said the U.S. economy was "facing a prolonged period of
uncertainty and our financial markets are experiencing unprecedented and
extraordinary challenges."