British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday called a
top-level meeting to discuss government proposals to stabilize the banking
system after a dramatic slump in bank shares on the London stock market, dpa reported.
The meeting came within hours of the return from the European Union's finance
ministers meeting in Luxembourg of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Alistair Darling.
Darling, Bank of England governor Mervyn King and Adair Turner, head of the
Financial Services Authority (FSA), took part in the talks which were reported
to be centering on extra funding for cash-starved banks.
The Luxembourg meeting agreed that EU states would prop up banks in an effort
to enhance the "stability of our banking system and to protect the
deposits of individual savers."
The British government is understood to be working on a plan to inject between
30 and 50 billion pounds (52 and 78 billion dollars) into banks which have
suffered from frozen credit markets.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds
were among leading banks suffering heavy share losses on the London Stock
Exchange Tuesday.