Henry Paulson lays down law as bankers hear details of $700bn bailout$

Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, moved to follow Britain’s leads yesterday by nailing down a plan for the US Government to buy shares in banks. Mr Paulson convened an emergency meeting of senior American bankers in Washington to finalise details of a plan that will use some of the $700 billion bailout to buy stakes in American financial institutions. It is understood that Ken Lewis, the chief executive of Bank of America, the financial institution that has recently bought Merrill Lynch; Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase; Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs; John Mack, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley; Vikram Pandit, chief executive of Citigroup; and Robert Kelly, the chief executive of Bank of New York Mellon, were all ordered to attend. The evolving plan marks a quick... [read full story]