Friday October 31

Barclays said it would raise up to 7.3bn, mainly from Middle East investors, who could end up owning nearly a third of the UK’s second largest bank. The deal drew fierce criticism from Liberal Democrat deputy leader and Treasury spokesman Vince Cable, who said it was a scandal of mammoth proportions.

The Bank of Japan cut interest rates for the first time in seven years in response to the global financial crisis. The bank cut the key interest rate from 0.5% to 0.3%, a move some criticised as half-hearted.

Thursday October 30

Alistair Darling urged banks to use a 4bn package of support from the European Investment Bank to help small and medium-sized businesses through the credit crunch. The chancellor also called on oil companies to pass on lower costs to consumers.

Deutsche Bank reported steep falls in pre-tax and net profits and a further series of writedowns in the third quarter.

Wednesday October 29

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half point, trying to avert a prolonged economic downturn in the wake of the financial crisis.

Monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower said the Bank of England failed to respond to the warning signs of a looming recession and wrongly delayed cutting interest rates.

Alistair Darling defended the government’s move to raise borrowing to help the economy, saying it would be perverse to apply the fiscal rules rigidly in the current turbulent times.

The International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank announced a massive rescue package for Hungary.

The prospect of fresh cuts in interest rates on both sides of the Atlantic helped propel Wall Street stocks to a dramatic rebound. with the Dow scoring its second-biggest points gain ever, just short of 900.

Volkswagen, the business that gave the world the Beetle and the camper van, found itself the most valuable company in the developed world as a bout of financial speculation went spectacularly wrong.

Britain’s retailers were gearing themselves up for one of the most difficult Christmas trading periods of recent years. after the latest snapshot of the high street from the CBI found that fear of unemployment was curbing spending.

Tuesday October 28

Autumn’s market mayhem has left the world’s financial institutions nursing losses of $2.8tn, the Bank of England said. as it called for fundamental reform of the global banking system

Monday October 27

Shares in Asia suffered sharp falls and the FTSE 100 was down 200 points at one stage, although it ended only around 30 points lower.

The spectre of a cascade of failing economies from the Baltic to Turkey was raised as a $16.5bn IMF bailout for Ukraine was mired in political infighting and Hungary sought its own $10bn rescue package.

GKN warned that plummeting demand from the world’s carmakers was biting into profits and forcing it to shed 1,400 jobs in its automotive components businesses.

Friday October 24

Shares and the pound slumped as official government figures confirmed that the UK economy was shrinking. with the biggest drop in GDP since 1990.

Thursday October 23

Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan admitted he had been partially wrong in his hands-off approach towards the banking industry. The credit crunch had left him in a state of shocked disbelief, he admitted before a congressional committee.

Goldman Sachs said it was to cut one-in-10 of its global workforce, likely to lead to 600 job losses in London.

The grisly conditions facing UK retailers were underlined when DSG, which operates Currys and PC World. revealed a big drop in sales of TVs and computers.

Daimler, maker of Mercedes cars, issued its second profits warning this year after third-quarter earnings plunged by two-thirds.

Wednesday October 22

Thousands of workers at the manufacturing firm JCB voted to accept a pay cut of 50 a week to prevent the loss of 350 jobs.

The stricken US bank Wachovia reported the biggest quarterly loss of any bank since the onset of the credit crunch, with a deficit of $24bn — more than the total price being paid for the North Carolina lender by its rival Wells Fargo.

Pakistan sought emergency bail-out funds from the IMF

Tuesday October 21

The Bank of England governor Mervyn King hinted at fresh interest rate cuts admitted it now seems likely that the UK economy is entering a recession in a speech to business leaders in Leeds.

Monday October 20

Gordon Brown told MPs that if the government had not acted to stabilise the banking system, Britain’s financial difficulties would have been even more severe.

His statement came after figures showed the public finances lurched to a record deficit last month.

China warned the financial crisis was damaging its economic growth.

Mortgage lending slumped by 10% in September to its lowest level for more than three-and-a-half years.

Sunday October 19

Alistair Darling said the government would inject billions into the public sector to boost the economy, bringing forward large construction projects. However, it was reported that Britain’s most expensive road improvement programme, the 5bn upgrade of the M25. was struggling to raise finance.

Saturday October 18

Friday October 17

Lord Adair Turner, the Financial Service Authority chairman. told the Guardian that the days of soft-touch regulation were over, warning the City that higher-paid regulators would ask tougher questions in the wake of the credit crisis.

The Guardian learned that workers at Wall Street’s top banks were to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, despite the global financial crisis.

The Dow Jones fell again but the FTSE closed up 201 points at 4063 — a 5.2% gain.

Labour saw its lead over the Tories on economic competence rise on the day in which David Cameron accused Gordon Brown of presiding over a complete and utter failure of economic policy.

Thursday October 16

The Dow Jones industrial Average shook off a mood of despondency to make strong gains. jumping by 401 points to 8979. Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei suffered its worst fall since 1987 and the FTSE 100 index slumped by 218 points to 3861.

The Bank of England announced new rules intended to bring an end to the paralysis which has gripped the money markets.

An EU summit ended in Brussels with a clear message that there was no time to lose in coming up with concerted action to tackle the financial emergency.

In Switzerland. UBS received a capital injection from the government, while Credit Suisse raised money from private investors and a sovereign wealth fund.

In America, Citigroup suffered its fourth consecutive quarterly loss after taking hits of more than $13bn to cover liabilities arising from the credit crunch.

In Japan, the prime minister, Taro Aso, dismissed the US bank bail-out as insufficient, in the first real sign of a split among the world’s richest countries on how to address the credit crunch and looming global recession.

Opec called an emergency meeting in Vienna as the oil price fell to less than half the $147 it traded at in July.

Wednesday October 15

The FTSE suffered its fifth biggest fall in history. closing down 7.16% at 4079.5 — a 315-point fall — more than wiping out all of Tuesday’s gains. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped by 7.8%.

Unemployment figures in the UK showed the biggest rise since the country’s last recession 17 years ago, up to 5.7% – 1.79 million people.

Meanwhile, pressure was mounting on the government to renegotiate the terms of the part nationalisation of the UK banking sector.

US banks JP Morgan and Wells Fargo reported big falls in profits, and retail sales in the US suffered their biggest fall in three years, with the decline in car sales hitting 3.8%.

Iceland rushed to stave off economic ruin by slashing interest rates by 3.5% and pursuing talks with Russia over the possibility of a multibillion euro loan.

Tuesday October 14

The Icelandic stock exchange resumed trading for the first time since last Wednesday, but six financial stocks remained suspended. The stockmarket plummeted 76% after the open.

Monday October 13

The government announces it will pump 37bn of emergency recapitalisation into the Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

10.30am BST: At a Downing Street press conference, Gordon Brown says the unprecedented cash injection into the UK banking sector was essential and he predicts other countries will follow Britain’s lead. The government cannot just leave people on their own to be buffeted about, he says.

RBS. which will get 20bn from the taxpayer, announces chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and chairman Sir Tom McKillop are stepping down.

In Iceland, the authorities edge closer to a deal to repay savers. but have no plans to reimburse charities and councils. Meanwhile, UK magnate Sir Philip Green is looking into opportunities provided by the crisis in Reykjavik.

The 15 members of the eurozone, led by Germany and France. unveil large, coordinated plans along British lines to provide their banks with capital funding.

The prospect of governments pumping vast sums into banks on both sides of the Atlantic sends stocks soaring. The FTSE 100 closes 325 points higher at 4256.9, a rise of 8.3%.

The Dow Jones rockets by 936 points to 9387, its biggest one-day gain by points. It closes up 11%, the largest daily jump in percentage terms since 1933.

Sunday October 12

Gordon Brown travels to Paris where European officials are desperate to prevent a continent-wide meltdown in the banking sector. He succeeds in persuading the EU’s core countries to adopt a plan along the lines of his 500bn banking system bail-out.

Lloyds TSB considers renegotiating the terms of its takeover of HBOS.

Saturday October 11

Alistair Darling attends meetings in Washington with the G7 finance ministers and the IMF. The G7 comes up with a five-point plan. which includes spending billions of taxpayers’ money to rebuild the global banking system and reopen the flow of credit.

The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn tells a Washington meeting. Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown.

Friday October 10

A global rout starts in Asia as recession fears deepen, with Japan’s Nikkei index falling almost 10%, its biggest drop for 20 years.

Singapore officially slides into recession on the back of falling demand for manufacturing exports from US and Europe.

8.07am BST: The FTSE 100 plunges more than 10% to 3847 points, careering through the 4,000 mark for the first time in five years. The sell-off wipes more than 100bn off the value of Britain’s biggest companies.

Oil prices slump as energy watchdog drops demand forecast. Prices tumble by almost $5 a barrel to a one-year low amid growing fears that the deepening financial crisis will squash demand for fuel.

2.40pm BST: The Dow crashes nearly 700 points to 7882 in the first few minutes of trading, a fall of 8%. President Bush urges confidence in the US government’s ability to manage the worsening financial crisis, but his words have little effect.

5.10pm BST: The FTSE 100 closes 8.85% lower at 3932.1 – a 381.7 point fall, wiping about 89.5bn off the value of Britain’s biggest companies. This is the worst daily fall since the crash of 1987, beating Monday’s 7.85% decline .

Thursday October 9

House prices fall at record rate during the year to the end of September, losing 13.3% of their value, Halifax reports.

Gordon Brown tells GMTV that bankers who hadveacted irresponsibly and taken excessive risks deserve to be punished. The prime minister says he is angry at irresponsible behaviour and that the days of big bonuses in the City are over.

Stock markets calm after the turmoil. The FTSE 100 jumps 61 points by midday. Banks continue to recover following the UK goverment’s 500bn rescue plan announced the previous day.

Tories claim that councils could lose 1bn because of the collapse of Icelandic banks.

The International Monetary Fund announces emergency plans to bail out governments affected by the financial crisis, after warning that no country would be immune from the ripple effects of the credit crunch.

Gordon Brown goes on tour to explain the bank bail-out, with a podcast and regional tour to explain the government’s 500bn banking rescue package to the public.

The Icelandic prime minister says chancellor Alistair Darling is going to send a team to Iceland to work on the stricken economy’s financial issues.

The London market fails to hold on to early gains. With Wall Street in decline yet again in early trading, the FTSE 100 ends 52.9 points lower at 4313.8, its lowest level since August 13 2004. Since the start of yet another tumultuous week, the leading index has lost almost 700 points. The Dow falls to a five-year low, ending the day day 7.3% at 8579 points.

Wednesday October 8

7.30am BST: The Treasury announces what amounts to a 500bn bank rescue package to stop the country’s financial system melting down. Most bank shares fall again.

8.30am BST: Darling confirms that the government will guarantee no retail depositor with the internet bank Icesave will lose their money.

12pm BST: The Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank all cut half a point off their key interest rates in the first unscheduled rate moves since the aftermath of 9/11.

12.15pm BST: Brown confirms at Commons question time that banks benefiting from the government’s rescue package will be forced to accept strict conditions on bonuses.

Councils call for protection from the Icelandic bank collapse. LGA asks for meeting with Alistair Darling after he suggests that councils will not benefit from compensation.

London shares are in the red despite rate cuts. The FTSE 100, after rocketing into positive territory after the shock rate cut move, was down by 158 points at 4446, a fall of 3.5%, by mid-afternoon. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones initially dropped more than 200 points, but later the index was up 44 points at 9491.

UK government announces that it might sue Iceland over any lost bank savings. The prime minister and chancellor threaten legal action over any losses incurred by British citizens as banks are nationalized.

Icesave accounts are declared in default. This move triggers Financial Services Compensation Scheme which will return 100% of savers’ money.

The FTSE 100 closes down 238.5 points at 4366.7, a 5.2% decline and its lowest level since 19 August 2004. Around 57bn is wiped off the value of Britain’s top companies.

Dow slides 189 points despite global interest rate cuts. It has fallen or six successive days, losing 14.7% of its value.

Tuesday October 7

5pm BST: The prime minister, the chancellor, the governor of the Bank of England and the chairman of the Financial Services Authority hold talks at No 10. Darling says afterwards that he wants to put the banks on a longer-term sound footing.

7.30pm BST: Darling confirms the government will make a historic announcement tomorrow on changes to the banking system. It is thought it will involve using 50bn of taxpayers’ money to take a major stake in high street banks.