Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown.

—Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director, International Monetary Fund

We are looking at our entire system of guarantees and we can imagine new measures to enlarge access to our system of guarantees. We imagine being even more open in the question of what’s legitimate.

—Jean-Claude Trichet

European Leaders Agree to Inject Cash Into Banks
By DAVID JOLLY and KATRIN BENNHOLD
Published: October 13, 2008
European countries, led by Germany and France, pledged to take equity stakes in distressed banks and to guarantee lending for periods up to five years.