Papers show Paulson laid it on thick to big banks

WASHINGTON: Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

The documents, obtained by the public interest group Judicial Watch under a Freedom of Information Act request, include "talking points" used by Paulson at the Oct 13, 2008 meeting with the banks' CEOs in Washington.

The details of the meeting had been widely reported at the time, but the documents offer a first-hand account of what transpired behind closed-doors.