In this environment, Malaysia's banks might hope to trim lending to loss-making companies.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

The report said that private markets, not the government, will be the source of mortgage lending and bear the loss burden.

FORBES: Treasury's Mortgage Report Hits Street

How much would such a loss dampen lending?

ECONOMIST: A troubling estimate of the costs so far

Lacking access to the markets will force Countrywide to curtail some of its lending activities, which could lead to a loss of stature as the largest stand-alone mortgage company and to a loss of revenues, Moody's said.

FORBES: Magazine Article

With sales incentives offering interest rates all the way down to zero, the car companies eventually have to funnel money into their credit subsidiaries to balance the books, so loss-making consumer-goods makers are lending money to customers to buy their wares.

ECONOMIST: Detroit's nine lives

According to the Center for Responsible Living - Lending, this is one of - this is the biggest loss of black wealth that we have seen in this country, right there with the loss of black land in the south.

NPR: Reporters Analyze Wall Street's Downward Turn

These are often loss-making for the banks, and hence lower overall lending.

ECONOMIST: India

They included the loss of 1, 400 jobs, an exit from commercial property lending and a scaling down of its business operations, mainly in England.

BBC: Clydesdale Bank

This gives their deals more the flavor of collateralized lending, since the business getting the cash is on the hook for the loss if a receivable proves uncollectible.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Treasury should offer to buy part of every new loan made to an SME as long as the originating bank accepts a small proportion of any loss and holds part of the loan itself to show its confidence in its lending decision.

FORBES: Let's Not Have a British Freddie Mac for Business

The loss of America's AAA credit rating shouts loudly that there is risk in lending to America - which at a time of great stress in financial markets could be very destabilising.

BBC: As the US loses AAA, where is a safe harbour?

And for Italian and Spanish banks, in today's febrile climate there is a strong temptation to put any spare cash on deposit with central banks, even for a guaranteed loss on that money, because they don't want to double up on lending to households and businesses struggling to repay what they owe, and they don't want to be short of cash if capital flight intensifies.

BBC: Can Draghi do 'whatever it takes' to save euro?