"Central banks have continued to work together and to consult regularly on liquidity conditions in financial markets," read a press release on the Fed's website. "In view of the persistent liquidity pressures in some term funding markets, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing an expansion of their liquidity measures."

Starting May 5, the Fed's Term Auction Facility will now offer $75 billion in 28-day loans compared to the previous $50 billion auctions, with the European Central Bank offering $25 billion in U.S. dollar loans and the Swiss National Bank offering $12 billion. The auctions are to be conducted every two weeks.

The Fed also authorized an expanded range of collateral to include AAA/Aaa-rated asset-backed securities at the Term Securities Lending Facility.

"The wider pool of collateral should promote improved financing conditions in a broader range of financial markets. Treasury securities, agency securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities continue to be eligible as collateral in Schedule 1 TSLF auctions," the Fed said on its website.

By Erik Kevin Franco, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Nancy Girgis, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it