The government is to pump billions of pounds of taxpayers money into three UK banks in one of the UK's biggest nationalisations.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and HBOS will have a total of £37bn injected into them.
In return for the investment, the government will get a say in how the banks are run, including controls over the bonuses paid to management.
BBC business editor Robert Peston said the banks faced "absolute humiliation".
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Under the plan RBS is to raise £20bn with a further £17bn to be put into HBOS and Lloyds TSB. Barclays intends to raise £6.5bn without government help.
Taxpayers will own about 60% of RBS and 40% of the merged Lloyds TSB and HBOS and executives at the three firms will see cash bonuses limited or forbidden.
I wonder if Gordon Brown realizes that he just bought the bank closest to the Old North Bridge. Thomas Gage's Revenge, anyone?
