For the past few months, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have been calling on banks to respond to the credit crisis by strengthening their capital bases. So far, lenders in the US appear to be paying more attention.

Wachovia became the latest US bank on Monday to raise fresh capital from investors when it unveiled plans to raise $7bn by issuing ordinary and convertible stock. This follows similar steps in recent weeks by Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers.