Listen to Alan's comments in full here

In summary

• The rejection of TARP was principally a result of a vote by the Republican members of Congress - they voted 2 - 1 against the proposal whereas the Democrats voted 3 - 2 in favour
• It is highly unlikely that the proposal will go back to Congress until there is confidence that the support is there from the Republicans - the earliest that this is likely to happen is Thursday or Friday this week
• These are very uncertain times for financial markets but it is worth noting that the US Federal Reserve has taken very firm action to ensure that banks have access to adequate liquidity over the next few days
• The Fed has doubled the amount of dollars it is lending to other central banks - this now stands at over $600 billion.  It has also doubled the size of its own credit auctions to around $300 billion.
• The Fed has also increased the term funding available for 12 week loans - not just 4 week loans
• We hope that the US Congress will reach resolution on this matter as soon as possible - until we do we should expect gridlock in credit markets.