RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
NPR's business news starts with big bank bailouts in Europe. Stock markets are soaring after European governments announced a series of giant financial rescue plans. Rescue packages unveiled by Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy, among other EU states, involve government guarantees of bank lending as well as cash injections into troubled banks. The rescue plans may involve pay limits for CEOs and the government taking equity stakes. Great Britain's plan involves the government buying shares in three big financial institutions and becoming an owner of these once-private banks. The U.S. Treasury is also working on a similar plan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
