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UK's Treasury soon to offer details on toxic-asset plan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-15 11:16

He said the plan could get started using the remaining funds in the Treasury's $700 billion financial rescue fund, but this and other banking stability efforts may require the Treasury to request additional funds from Congress.

A "placeholder" provision in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2010 budget plan signals a possible request of around $750 billion in new funds.

Neel Kashkari, the Treasury's interim administrator for the $700 billion rescue fund, also told lawmakers this week that private investors are ready to invest in distressed mortgage assets if they can get financing. With no private financing available, they could only pay prices that are too low for banks to be willing to sell.

The bad asset plan is expected to be structured similar to the Federal Reserve's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), which is scheduled to launch this week to help unblock consumer lending markets.

In it, investors are able to borrow funds from the Fed against highly rated asset-backed securities, which then can be used to invest in new securities, helping to jumpstart consumer credit.

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