U.S. Government Stands Behind the Banking System

Treasury, Federal Reserve, FDIC, OTS and OCC offer a joint statement on the banking system

Major government institutions have issued a joint statement regarding the banking system. The government has reiterated its commitment to the banking system, and offered to point out that it plans to institute a program to ensure that banks have the capital they "need" to remain solvent.

Stock Market Funding reports on the program expected to help buoy banks through this particular crisis:

Under this program, which will be initiated on February 25, the capital needs of the major U.S. banking institutions will be evaluated under a more challenging economic environment. Should that assessment indicate that an additional capital buffer is warranted, institutions will have an opportunity to turn first to private sources of capital. Otherwise, the temporary capital buffer will be made available from the government.

This news goes hand in hand with the rumors that bank nationalization could be on the way as well — should that be necessary to keep banks from collapsing. As a result of this promise, the U.S. dollar is down in forex trading (but the stock market is up).