Will the Fed bailout British banks too?

Interesting news via Politco. Treasury Secertary HenrY paulson seems to have indicated that foreign banks with significant operations in the US may well be subject to nationalisation bailouts too.

"If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution.... That's a distinction without a difference to the American people. The key here is protecting the system....

We have a global financial system, and we are talking very aggressively with other countries around the world and encouraging them to do similar things, and I believe a number of them will. But, remember, this is about protecting the American people and protecting the taxpayers. and the American people don't care who owns the financial institution. If the financial institution in this country has problems, it'll have the same impact whether it's the U.S. or foreign."

I'm sure that something like this will please Gordon Brown, not to mention Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland.