European Regulators Scramble to Save Banks

European governments scrambled late Sunday and early Monday to save the continent’s financial system after four financial firms were either seized by regulators or needed massive infusions of cash to keep them afloat.

Within hours of each other, the U.K. nationalized mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (BDBYF), the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg took massive stakes in the Dutch bank Fortis to save it from collapse, the Icelandic government nationalized its third-largest bank Glitnir and the German government orchestrated a EUR435 billion bailout of commercial lender Hypo Real Estate (HRGX).

European shares plummeted on the news. The U.K.’s benchmark index FTSE 100 dropped more than 5%, while France’s CAC was down 4.6% and Germany’s Dax was down 4% during Monday’s trading.

Bradford & Bringley Nationalized

The U.K. Treasury Ministry took control of mortgage lender Bradford