Central banks pull together for second co-ordinated bailout

Banks launch another set of emergency auctions in reaction to ongoing liquidity pressures

Central banks worldwide launched another round of co-ordinated money market measures last month, but optimism was short-lived as more bad news, notably the near-collapse of US investment bank Bear Stearns, continued to plague the financial markets.

In March, the US Federal Reserve held its first auction of its new lending facility, set up to let banks temporarily exchange out-of-favour assets for up to $200 billion in US Treasury securities for 28 days, instead of the usual overnight auctions