Ananova:

A revolution in British banking will be sparked when plans are unveiled for the taxpayer to take a stake in the High Street's biggest names.

HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland could be effectively nationalised as the Government puts its £500bn rescue package for the financial system into action.

Lloyds TSB and Barclays are also set to ask for taxpayer cash in return for shares in order to stay afloat amid global turmoil.

The huge bailout will leave foreign-owned HSBC as the UK's only major, fully independent High Street bank. The Government already controls two significant mortgage lenders, Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley.

The dramatic moves come as hopes were raised that plunging markets might be about to stage a fightback.

Early futures index figures suggested that US stocks will open higher on Monday after EU leaders signed up to to Gordon Brown's blueprint for recovery.

The announcement, after an emergency summit of eurozone countries in Paris on Sunday, was seen as a significant personal victory for the Prime Minister.

Opposition from senior figures such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel had stymied joint progress before. But further market dives appeared to focus minds, and the group pledged to guarantee lending between banks, and step in with state funding to prevent major financial institutions collapsing.

The US came on board with similar action over the weekend, after Mr Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling set out their proposals last week.

Mr Brown - who, in a break with precedent, attended the Paris summit despite Britain not being in the single currency - praised the eurozone measures as the best way of restoring "confidence" to the shattered international system.