A US Treasury official has said the US is ready to buy shares in a 'broad array' of financial institutions. 'We are designing a standardised programme to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions,' Neel Kashkari said in a speech to the Institute of International Bankers in Washington.
He said the programme would be voluntary and would also encourage firms to raise new private capital as well as public capital.
It was the first public speech on the massive US rescue package by Mr Kashkari since he was asked a week ago by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to serve as interim head the US bank bail-out programme.
A former Goldman Sachs executive, Kashkari, 35, is an assistant Treasury secretary for international economics and development.
He now heads the Office of Financial Stability including the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), the $700 billion financial lifeline created through emergency legislation 10 days ago.
* Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest financial group, has bought a 21% stake in Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley for $9 billion.
The investment was part of a previously announced global strategic alliance between Morgan Stanley and MUFG. The terms are more favourable for the Japanese bank than the original deal.
