The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that Britain is already in a recession, which is worsening and could see unemployment rise by 350,000 by next year.The UK government increased its guarantee to savers from £35,000 ($62,000) to £50,000 from Tuesday.
The Northern Rock bank and the mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley have already been nationalised, and two other large groups, HBOS and Lloyds TSB, are to merge
Chancellor Angela Merkel said those financiers who did "irresponsible business" would be made accountable.
The Prime Minister of Iceland, Geir Haarde, has confirmed that negotiations have been going on with Russia for a big loan to support Iceland's banking system.
Iceland's government has taken control of Landsbanki, the second largest bank by value, and has dismissed the board of directors.
Customers of the Icesave have been warned they will probably have to claim compensation for money held in their savings accounts.
After several failed bail-out attempts, French giant BNP Paribas agreed to buy 75% of Fortis's operations in Belgium and Luxembourg. The two governments will take a minority share of the company, while its Netherlands operation has been nationalised.
Mr Zapatero told leading banks that the government would take immediate steps to increase deposit guarantees to boost confidence in the financial system.
Ireland was the first government to come to the rescue of its citizens' savings, promising on 30 September to guarantee all deposits, bonds and debts in its six main banks for two years.
The Netherlands trebled the amount of savers' deposits it will protect to 100,000 euros (£77,700; $136,776).
President Dmitry Medvedev announced 950 billion roubles ($36.4 bn) of long term help for banks at an emergency Kremlin meeting on Tuesday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said that the sharp cut was justified given the prospects for growth, even though inflation is currently above target.
The Nikkei index has lost nearly 25% in the last two weeks with some of Japan's auto makers among the biggest losers.
The Saudi stock market, the Arab world's largest, has now lost more than 40% of its value this year.
