For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid

In economic sea change, 'we need the money,' one US Rep. says

By Jim O'Neill, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 16, 2008 12:02 PM CST

Copied

For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid — Citigroup Inc. provided this file photo of CEO Vikram Pandit. Pandit, who replaced Charles Prince in December, said his company's fourth-quarter results were "unacceptable", and that he was "not yet finished" in his review of whether any of the global bank's core operations need to be cut or sold.... (Associated Press)

The subprime collapse has US financial institutions in uncharted waters—asking for help from foreign investors and governments, the Wall Street Journal reports. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley all have recently sought bailouts, a dramatic switch from a tradition that saw US banks coming to the “rescue of nations and businesses across the world."

Japan, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Korea, and China: A list of countries that in the past could have been the recipients of US aid projects instead now makes up the bucket brigade of cash pouring into the bottom lines of troubled financial institutions. And, the Journal writes, it’s a trend that’s not likely to change anytime soon. (More Citigroup stories.)

Report an error