Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson defended his decision to change how the $700 billion bailout fund is used, telling CNBC it was forced by the spreading credit crisis.

The US outlined new initiatives to aid financial institutions amid a historic credit crunch that has frozen lending around the world.

The announcement  of a government plan to invest about $250 billion in possibly thousands of banks could come as soon as Tuesday, sources have told CNBC.

A U.S. District Court Judge said there would be no hearing on Friday in the federal case over the rival bids of Citigroup and Wells Fargo for Wachovia after Citigroup dropped out of the deal on Thursday, according to court documents.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the government will now provide cash to financial firms in exchange for equity, as the government steps us rescue efforts.

General Motors said it was not considering bankruptcy protection as market turmoil continues and Barclays Capital said on Friday that the company's cash needs were increasing.

Central banks around the world Wednesday cut interest rates amid mounting losses in financial markets, as the credit crunch continued to seize up lending.

The Federal Reserve will provide as much as $900 billion in cash loans to squeezed banks in an urgent effort to break through a dangerous credit clog that threatens the economy and has unhinged financial markets around the globe.

Congress approved a $700 billion bank bailout Friday, but stocks tumbled as investors worried that the plan wouldn't be enough to stem the credit crisis.

Wells Fargo and Wachovia agreed to merge, in a transaction requiring no financial assistance from the government, the two banks said on Friday.

Washington Mutual was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion.

Congress pledged to hammer out a revised financial bailout proposal, but it was unclear how much support any new plan would get.

The government's failed rescue plan has heightened Wall Street's greatest malady right now: Fear.

Morgan Stanley agreed to sell a 21 percent equity stake to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest bank, for $9 billion Monday, bolstering its capital base and improving its chances for surviving the credit crisis.

The fate of a Wall Street bailout remained unclear as a White House meeting of both parties ended without an agreement and some participants said a deal may even be dead.

Wachovia has begun talks with Citigroup about a potential merger, people briefed on the matter told the New York Times.

Washington Mutual, the large U.S. savings and loan beleaguered by mortgage losses, is pressing ahead for a takeover deal by talking to multiple suitors, as well as exploring options to raise capital, sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

A $700 billion financial rescue plan was sent to Congress Saturday, and Democrats moved quickly to propose changes—including possible help for homeowners and a salary cap for CEOs.

Wall Street suffered another beating Wednesday at the hands of investors panicking over the state of large banks, as they flocked from stocks and sent safe-haven areas like gold soaring.

A Wall Street bailout proposal was greeted with bipartisan skepticism in Congress, signaling that the $700 billion measure faces an uphill battle.

A proposal to fund $25 billion in low interest loans to the auto industry was included on Monday in draft legislation that could be considered by the U.S. Congress later this week.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will change their status to bank holding companies,  allowing them to take deposits and bolster their capital.  This means a future of stricter regulation, less leverage and probably lower returns.

The Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily banned short-selling on 799 financial stocks to boost investor confidence on Friday, one day after the UK Financial Services Authority took a similar step.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Friday called for the U.S. government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to take toxic mortgage assets off the books of financial firms to restore financial stability.

Former Allstate CEO Edward Liddy will be the new CEO of AIG, which was rescued by an $85 billion loan from the Fed, in exchange for an 79.9% stake in itself.

Bank of America added another slice to its growing financial services empire, buying Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion deal that would create a bank offering everything from fixed-income trading to credit card lending

Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy Sunday to became the largest casualty of the global credit crisis, is still trying to sell its asset management business, including the crown jewel, Neuberger Berman.

In nearly a century, no Treasury secretary has faced a more difficult financial crisis than the one Henry Paulson is contending with. For months, he and his team have been working around the clock, often seven days a week, trying — in vain — to keep it from deepening, according to the New York Times.

As regulators and shareholders sift through the rubble of the financial crisis, questions are being asked about what role lavish bonuses played in the debacle.

The financial bailout has a new address: It's Main Street, not Wall Street. Having thrown trillions of dollars at Wall Street and the financial sector, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson now appear ready to do the same for Main Street, with a spate of proposals to help homeowners and the housing market.

The TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) was conceived to stabilize financial markets and restore investor confidence. But now it is looking so amorphous and vulnerable to political trade winds, it's become almost a constant source of uncertainty.

The US government is facing a bottomless pit of bailouts if it starts propping up failing companies outside the financial sector, including the struggling auto industry, economists say.

A committee of five little-known government officials, aided by a small staff of 40, is deciding which of the thousands of banks, savings and loans, insurers and other financial institutions qualify for capital injections under the government's bailout plan.

With the financial crisis costing investors and taxpayers alike tens of billions of dollars, legislators are in no mood to suffer fat payouts for executives at financial firms taking part in the government bailout.

The US government mishandled the credit crisis, much as it did Hurricane Katrina three years ago, say crisis management experts.

Investors and taxpayers angry about the government bailout of seemingly mismanaged financial firms can probably count on criminal indictments in the coming months, experts say.

The  $700 billion financial rescue plan bears little resemblance to the  savings and loan bailout almost two decades ago—and may not be as successful, experts say. First and foremost, there’s no accompanying re-regulation of the financial services industry.