HSBC != HBOS
Re: above comment. Not such a small liability, this is the Halifax Bank of Scotland we're talking about, not HSBC.
HSBC = Hong Kong Shanghai bank
HBOS = Halifax Bank of Scotland (profit last year about 7 billion before tax, and announce recently they had a 7 billion exposure to the US subprime problem).
Personally I hope they don't bail any more banks out. Many of them have exposure to the US, USA hands out it's fiscal stimulus cheques soon, up to $1200 each to encourage the economy.
So the dollar gets diluted yet more, as USA prints yet more money and hands it out to yet more Americans.
The foreign debts get diluted, countries and banks stupid enough to lend to them find they'll get paid back in new 'devalued' dollars rather than the old dollar that was worth something.
So the longer the banks hold their dollars, the bigger the hit they'll take as el Presidente leaves his 'legacy' for others to scoop up from the pavement.
If HM.gov bails them out then there is no incentive to dump their risky dollar holdings and ultimately tax payers will be scooping a lot of legacy off the pavement.