"This is a global banking crisis and you've got to deal with it for what it is, a global banking crisis," Brown said. He said the only way forward was through cooperation.
Brown, who has spearheaded a major program aimed at restoring confidence in the British banking system through bailouts and keeping inflation low, said there is "a crisis of confidence, a crisis of trust in the banking system."
But he said that government action alone cannot unwind the damage wrought by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that spread globally and toppled major U.S. banks, froze credit markets and led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs worldwide.
"It's important that we build on the right ideas," he said, adding that global oversight and an overhaul of missions by agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund is needed.
