Fed Widens Collateral, Banks Set Up $70 Billion Fund

From Bloomberg:

The Federal Reserve widened the collateral it accepts for loans to securities firms to include stocks in an effort to help Wall Street weather Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s plans for bankruptcy.

The Fed also yesterday boosted its program for lending Treasuries to bond dealers by $25 billion, bringing it to $200 billion. At the same time, a group of 10 banks that includes JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. formed a $70 billion fund to ensure market liquidity...MORE