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The article reports that investors have increased their purchases of credit-default swaps to insure the sovereign debt of Great Britain. Since the start of 2010 the volume of outstanding swaps has increased about 100%. Although Tim Backshall says investors' concerns about British debt have increased, the activity could reflect hedging of other bullish bests on British assets.

The article discusses the interest-rate policies of the Bank of England (BOE) and the European Central Bank (ECB). In February, 2009 the BOE is expected to reduce a key short-term interest rate to 1%, while the ECB will likely hold its analogous rate steady at 2%. However, some investors believe the ECB could cut that to 1% later in 2009.

The article discusses the uneven response to date by nations confronting a global financial crisis. Although the U.S. government has acted to stem the crisis and economists in the U.K. have proposed a concerted effort among nations to pump capital into the global banking system, collective action has been largely lacking.