http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a67088ce-0291-11de-b58b-000077b07658.html

Stress tests of big US banks that start this week are unlikely to lead to any of them being seized by regulators and nationalised outright, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday.

His comments provided the clearest signal yet that US authorities hope to support major banks as going concerns in the private markets, taking equity stakes as necessary to shore up their capital in what would amount to partial nationalisations.

Mr Bernanke described the financial rescue plan as a Treasury plan, but offered broad endorsement of it.

outright 徹底的に、完全に

shore up 〈経済・通貨・体制などを〉支える

endorsement 保障、是認