The currency swap lines that central banks set up among themselves have also been shut down.

ECONOMIST: Tightening economic policy

The Federal Reserve can still lend to banks, and to foreign central banks via swap lines.

ECONOMIST: What if there were another Lehman?

The FOMC extended the term of these swap lines through September 30, 2008.

FORBES: Fed To The Rescue!

The central banks are fighting to prevent this from happening (cross currency swap lines with each other and low swap rates).

FORBES: Why MF Global Really Went Bankrupt

Swap lines used to be used to provide dollars for foreign central banks to use to support their currencies in foreign exchange markets.

FORBES: The Fed's Balance Sheet

This is indeed close to what America's Federal Reserve is now doing with quantitative easing at home and swap lines to foreign central banks.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus

He also said swap lines have helped improve global liquidity.

FORBES

Mr Buiter acknowledges that Britain has access to currency swap lines from the world's biggest central banks, which would help it prevent a run on the banks.

ECONOMIST: Iceland

South Korea did turn to China and Japan (as well as America) for help during the global crisis of late 2008, but it arranged direct swap lines with their central banks.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England all rejected Iceland's requests, stating, according to the Central Bank of Iceland, that the Icelandic financial system was too large relative to the size of the economy for plausible swap lines to be effective.

ECONOMIST: Iceland

Fan fiction grew popular in the 1960s thanks to "Star Trek" as fans developed their own story lines to swap with other devotees.

CNN: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' shines light on erotic fan fiction