Firms borrow more from Fed
From Times Wire Services
Big Wall Street investment companies boosted their borrowing in the last week from the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented emergency lending program.
The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that the firms averaged $38.1 billion in daily borrowing from the new program. That compared with $32.9 billion in the previous week and $13.4 billion in the first week the lending was available.
The program, which began March 17, is part of the Fed’s effort to aid the financial system.
The Fed agreed to allow big investment houses to temporarily get emergency loans directly from the central bank. The move came in response to the sudden crash of the Wall Street firm Bear Stearns Cos., which was on the brink of bankruptcy.
