by Calculated Risk on 4/20/2008 11:37:00 AM

From the WSJ: Bank of England Will Unveil Bailout Plan for U.K. Banks Monday

The Bank of England will announce Monday a scheme which will see it lend money to banks in return for collateral in a bid to help the troubled U.K. mortgage market, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Sunday.

"The Bank of England will be making an announcement tomorrow in which what it will do is effectively lend banks money to unfreeze the [mortgage market] situation we've got at the moment," Mr. Darling said in a television interview on the British Broadcasting Corporation.
...
The Chancellor said ... "The idea ... is that it will open up the market and it will begin the process of opening up the mortgage market which of course will help house owners...if that doesn't happen, then I think there is every chance that the situation will get worse."

There was an article in The Times last Wednesday that suggested this program from the BofE would allow lenders to use mortgage-backed assets as collateral to borrow government bonds - so the "scheme" will probably be similar to the programs the Fed has implemented.