TIMELINE - Financial crisis since October

REUTERS - Here is a chronology of the global financial crisis since October:

Oct. 2 - Irish lawmakers vote to enact legislation guaranteeing Irish bank deposits and debts up to a total of 400 billion euros ($554 billion).

Oct. 3 - The U.S. House of Representatives passes a revised $700 billion U.S. bailout plan which will take toxic mortgage assets off financial companies.

-- Wells Fargo & Co says it has agreed to buy Wachovia Corp for about $16 billion, thwarting a planned Citigroup Inc deal announced on Sept. 29. However, Citigroup wins a court order on Oct. 4 blocking the deal until the court rules otherwise. The two remain locked in an intense battle.

Oct. 5 - Germany pledges to guarantee private deposit accounts. Germany also clinches a revised rescue deal for lender Hypo Real Estate after banks and insurers pulled out of a state-led 35 billion euros ($48.5 billion) rescue programme.

Oct. 8 - The U.S. Fed leads a coordinated, global round of emergency interest rate cuts.

Oct. 9 - Iceland, whose prime minister warned of "national bankruptcy," takes control of its biggest bank, Kaupthing, the third major Icelandic bank to be taken over by the state.

Oct. 10 - Japan's Nikkei tumbles nearly 10 percent, registering its biggest one-day drop since 1987.

-- Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven meet in Washington and pledge to prevent big banks from collapse and to work together to stem the crisis. The International Monetary Fund backs the G7 plan the next day.

Oct. 12 - European leaders meeting in Paris rush out plans to help banks through the crisis.

Oct. 13 - Britain wades in with 37 billion pounds ($64 billion) of taxpayers' cash for three major banks -- Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB to help them survive.

Oct. 14 - Japan joins the global push, saying it could inject public funds into regional banks. The Nikkei surges more than 14 percent -- the biggest one-day gain in its history.

-- Iceland's stock market plunges 76 percent as it resumes trading.

-- The U.S. offers to take $250 billion worth of stakes in nine top banks. Paulson says government part-ownership of banks was "objectionable" but vital to tackle the crisis.

Oct. 16 - UBS AG is to get a 6 billion Swiss franc ($5.30 billion) injection from the state in return for a 9.3 percent shareholding. Switzerland's other major bank, Credit Suisse Group, says it will raise 10 billion from outside investors to insulate themselves from the crisis.

Oct. 18 - U.S. President George W. Bush meets with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. They agree to hold global summits on the crisis.

Oct. 19 - South Korea unveils rescue package worth over $130 billion, offering state guarantee on foreign debt and promising to recapitalise financial firms. Oct 24 - The British economy shrinks more than expected and for 16 years Q3 2008. GDP fell 0.5 percent in the biggest drop since Q4 1990 and the first contraction since Q2 1992.

Oct. 27 - Iceland raises interest rates by a massive 6 percentage points to 18 percent, a surprise move that aims to please the IMF and restore trust in a shattered currency.

Oct. 29 - The IMF and the EU agree to a $25.1 billion economic rescue package for Hungary. It is the biggest for an emerging market economy since the global crisis began.

-- The United States cuts interest rates by half a percentage point to 1.0 percent. China cuts its interest rate to 6.66 percent from 6.93 percent and Norway also cuts its rate.

Oct. 30 - Japan unveils a 5 trillion yen ($51 billion) package of spending measures to support its economy. -- Germany plans a range of steps worth up to 25 billion euros ($32 billion) to boost business. Oct. 31 - Barclays Bank saying it plans to raise 7.3 billion pounds ($12.06 billion) in additional capital from outside investors, including Gulf states Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

-- The Bank of Japan cuts its benchmark overnight call rate for the first time in seven years, to 0.30 percent from 0.50 percent.

Nov. 4 - Democratic candidate Barack Obama's convincing win in the U.S. presidential election ends a source of uncertainty for global investors.

Nov. 6 - The Bank of England cuts rates by 1.5 points to 3 percent, the lowest level in more than half a century. The ECB reduces its benchmark interest rate 0.5 percentage point to 3.25 percent.

Nov. 11 - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he is ready to borrow to provide a fiscal boost to the British economy.

Nov. 12 - Bank of England says that Britain's economy will shrink sharply in 2009 and inflation could be less than 1 percent.

Nov. 13 - Germany says its economy, Europe's largest, contracted by 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting it in recession for the first time in five years.

Nov. 15 - World leaders pledge rapid action at a G20 summit to rescue a weakening global economy, setting out plans to toughen oversight for major global banks and to try for a breakthrough by year end in global trade talks.