Resumption of their old operations is no longer an option, the Treasury secretary said.

The global recession is re-exposing fissures in United States-China relations that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. spent more than two years smoothing over.

Timothy F. Geithner has been at the heart of dealing with the financial crisis. Now, as Barack Obama’s choice for Treasury secretary, he will be thrust from go-between to the head of the table.

Will the latest rescue by the U.S. government finally restore confidence in the American financial system?

The Treasury secretary defended his management of the financial crisis and warned against the imposition of overly strict regulations to prevent a repeat calamity.

The Treasury Department’s inspector general will review a quiet change in tax policy that stands to give banks a windfall of billions of dollars, a top official said.

In prepared testimony, the Federal Reserve chairman described signs of only modest improvement in the credit markets.

Henry M. Paulson Jr. is hoping to put in place a major new lending program that would be run by the Fed and aimed at unlocking the frozen consumer credit market.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said that he was backing away from buying troubled mortgage assets in favor of a second round of capital injections into financial institutions.

Having been brought low by their dealings in obscure securities, bankers are reluctant to start lending again until the impact of the recession becomes clearer.