This is of course, on top or billions more already being lent to the banks by the ECB. It's possible - likely, even - that the US Fed has also been helping though we may not know about the Fed's actions for years. While it may not have a 2008-like feeling on the US, that is certainly the feeling over here. One would hope that the EU governments have learned lessons from the US experience when bankers were bailed out, but it's doubtful. Stay tuned because this is not likely to get better in the near term.
The European Central Bank announced that banks across the continent have already borrowed $50bn (£32bn) under the emergency measures announced jointly with other major central banks last week.
That was five times the level expected by market insiders, underlining the strains in Europe's banking markets. Banks across the EU will be told on Thursday how much capital they will be forced to raise to fix their battered finances.
On Wednesday night the rating agency Standard & Poor's piled on the pressure by placing all large banks in the eurozone on negative credit watch. That means powerhouses such as Deutsche Bank and France's BNP Paribas are at risk of being downgraded by the rating agency, adding to unease about the state of the continent's banks.
