London  - Banking shares led a strong rally on European markets Monday, following the announcement that the United States government would bail out the embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In London, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) was the strongest performer, gaining 13 per cent to 310.25 pence, followed by a rise of 26.25 cents for Royal Bank of Scotland and 37.5 cents for Barclays.

In Frankfurt the DAX index of the 30 top German shares clawed back much of last week's losses, with banking stocks leading the way.

Deutsche Bank was up 8 per cent to above 61 euros (87 dollars). All 30 shares benefited from the positive sentiment.

London - Britain's leading building society, Nationwide, said Monday it would merge with two smaller lenders facing growing pressure from the credit crunch.

The Nationwide Building Society said the merger with two of its smaller rivals, the Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Societies, would take place with the approval of financial regulators.

The Derbyshire and Cheshire had approached the Nationwide to help them survive the tough economic climate.

Both firms said they expected to make a loss in the first six months of 2008 as a result of the declining property market.

The Derbyshire has assets of 7.1 billion pounds (12.6 billion dollars), 50 branches and 485,000 members.

Washington - The US government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Sunday, seeking to deflect the rising threat of mortgage defaults to the two companies that manage about half of the US home loan market.

US President George W Bush indicated the urgency of the situation, saying that the takeover would "prevent a disruption of our financial system."

The Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) is taking over Fannie and Freddie under a so-called conservatorship and replacing their chief executives and eliminating their dividends.

The newly appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Governor, D. Subbarao said that he will continue the fiscal reform processes in the financial sector of the country.

He said that he would try his best to tame the ever increasing inflation rate in India. He termed it his top priority. He expressed these views after taking the charge of the central bank. He is appointed as 22nd Governor of the central bank for 3 years duration. He was working as Finance Secretary in the Union Ministry of Finance before is elevation.

Washington - The US government was preparing to take over the twin mortgage finance giants known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, dismiss their top executives and prop up the companies with government funds, with an announcement likely as early as Sunday.

The US Treasury has plans to put Fannie and Freddie into a so- called conservatorship, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank told Bloomberg financial news agency, after a briefing by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Saturday.

Berlin - Commerzbank Chief Executive Martin Blessing has defended the price Germany's second-largest bank paid to take over rival Dresdner in an interview published by Der Spiegel news magazine on Saturday.

Blessing described the 9.8 billion euros (14.4 billion dollars) paid to insurer Allianz as "not cheap but fair" highlighting the fact that much of the deal had been done with Commerzbank shares.

In addition, the new bank aimed to realize synergies worth 5 billion euros, he said.