August 3 – In Australia Members Equity Bank Ltd. scrapped a A$500 million ($429 million) sale of mortgage-backed bonds, the first Australian company to withdraw a planned offer as the U.S. subprime mortgage rout spreads across credit markets. The lender, which counts former Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Bernie Fraser as a director, pulled the sale after failing to find enough buyers, it said in a statement today.

Meanwhile in the United States membes of the Federal Reserve were downplaying the effect of subprime and Alt-A problems, saying they were contained and would not spread.