UK seeks urgent release of ailing business fund

Brown had earlier said he would propose a 12-billion-pound fund to help small businesses deal with the international financial crisis at the summit in Paris with the leaders of Germany, France and Italy.

The prime minister told reporters he would propose the fund "so that small businesses in our country and the rest of Europe can get money immediately so that they can continue to employ staff and continue to provide services".

A spokesman for his Downing Street office later confirmed that the money had already been committed by European finance ministers at a meeting in Nice last month, and that Britain wanted those funds to be made available sooner than planned.

"It is money that has been committed," the spokesman said.

"We're calling for it to be front-loaded, so it is provided now."

EU finance ministers agreed on September 13, at a two-day meeting in Nice, that the European Investment Bank would lend 30 billion euros to small and medium-sized firms by 2011.

For 2008 and 2009, they authorised the EIB to increase its lending by 50 percent to 15 billion euros for the two-year period.

Brown also told reporters that he would call for world leaders to "work together to clean up the system, both in America and Europe" by promoting transparency in the financial markets, and put together a timetable for international meetings to agree to changes.

He will arrive in Paris later on Saturday for the meeting with the leaders of the other members of the European Union's four biggest economies, to discuss the financial crisis.

As lawmakers in Washington wrangled over their own 700-billion-dollar rescue package, which was finally approved Friday, European governments have been forced to ride to the rescue of several major European banks this week.

Brown's government announced Monday the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley, coinciding with the 11.2-billion-euro bailout of banking and insurance group Fortis by the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments.

A day later, Belgium, France and Luxembourg joined together to inject 6.4 billion euros into banking group Dexia and in Germany Hypo Real Estate was saved by a government-backed rescue move.