Swiss banks have been revered, loved, and hated for their tightly-held secrets, but Swiss bank UBS has agreed to a legal settlement with the United States government after it was revealed that the bank was operating as a willing shelter for tax evaders. The bank is set to give U.S. tax regulators access to hundreds of bank accounts and will also pay close to $780 million in fees. For more on the story we turn to BBC business correspondent Mark Gregory.

Further details can be found in A Swiss Bank Is Set to Open Its Secret Files in today's New York Times.

According to a sober assessment of the mountain of losses facing some of the nation's largest banks, the banks could be called insolvent. Calling for more direct government involvement in the banking sector, a group of economists and finance experts claim that without a cure for the bad assets, the credit crisis will linger and banks will not be able to resume the lending that is key to the economy. For what this means for the economy and the nation, we turn to Steve Lohr, a reporter for the New York Times.

For more, read Steve Lohr's article, Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep Solvent in today's New York Times.

Should banks be required to explain how they spend taxpayer dollars? That was the 700 billion dollar question the Bush administration struggled with last fall while constructing the TARP. Today as we anticipate the reworked version of the TARP, it seems the Obama administration has a whole new set of questions, like how to restore public faith in the bailout. David Barstow, a New York Times reporter covering the bank bailout, joins us this morning.

For more on this, read David Barstow's article, Calls for Clarity in New Bailout for U.S. Banks, in today's New York Times.

Today Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will announce how the second half of the $700 billion Congress approved to bailout troubled banks will be spent. The Bush Administration's implementation of the so-called “Troubled Asset Relief Program,” or TARP, got plenty of criticism. Will Obama and his crew do better? Lizzie O'Leary, Washington-based reporter for Bloomberg News, and Tom McCool, Director of the Center for Economics at the Government Accountability Office, join Todd and Katherine to look at how TARP may be different the second time around.

We're asking you, Takeaway listeners, to create names for a "bad bank," a financial institution that will buy up "toxic assets." Vote on other listeners' names, then add your own!

The Obama administration is considering the creation of a “bad bank” to buy up billions in so-called toxic assets. We’re taking an in-depth look at this seemingly counter intuitive proposal — a proposal that could cost in excess of $2 trillion. Can bad banks be a good thing? The Takeaway is joined by Jane Sasseen, Washington Bureau Chief for BusinessWeek, and Freakonomics author Stephen Dubner.

While politicians on Capitol Hill debate how far the government should go in bailing out America's banking system, some economists are taking another look at how Sweden dealt with a similar banking crisis in 1992. Justin Fox, Time Magazine's business and economics columnist joins us from Davos, Switzerland to discuss why Sweden nationalized its banking system in the 1990s and whether a similar effort would work in the United States today.

As the bank bailout effort continues, the Obama administration has to address the question of how far to take the rescue plan. Can you say "bank nationalization''? The Takeaway talks to the New York Times' Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger to give us an outline for the debate and what taxpayers would get.

For a deeper analysis, read David Sanger's article, Nationalization Gets a New, Serious Look, in today's New York Times.

Want to craft your own economic stimulus plan? Start here.

Two of the nation's largest and most troubled banks are going through high-level personnel changes. Bank of America has taken over Merrill Lynch, and is now pushing out its chairman John Thain. And under pressure from federal regulators Citigroup has brought in a new chairman, Richard D. Parsons, who used to head up Time Warner. New York Times business reporter Louise Story joins John and Adaora to explain the high level staff shifts and what they might mean for the future of the banks.

For more, read Louise Story's article, Thain Resigns Amid Losses at Bank of America in the New York Times.

Congress is currently debating the possibility of bankruptcy reform, a measure that may come too late to save companies such as GM, but what about the little guy who is being crushed by personal debt? Does the legal insulation meant to protect the American worker still function in this economic climate? Does filing for bankruptcy in our current economy offer relief? Alvin Hall joins Adaora and Todd with some advice that might make you pause before considering declaring bankruptcy.

Despite a massive bailout back in November, giant financial services conglomerate Citigroup is considering radical measures to save itself. The company is likely to sell off its brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley, and may shed other parts of its business as well. Newsweek Senior Editor Dan Gross joins us with a look at what the shrinking of Citigroup says about our economy now and in the future.

Remember way back when Congress handed out $350 billion to bailout the financial services industry? Well people are starting to wonder where that money went. New York Times reporter, Eric Lipton, has been following the billions of dollars that was given out to banks and lending institutions across the nation and finds that a lot of banks are just holding on to their funds. He joins us now, hot on the trail of all that money.

Read Eric Lipton's article, In Michigan, Bank Lends Little of Its Bailout Funds, in today's New York Times

Happy days are here again for a group of former senior government officials who were involved in the savings and loan bailout of the 1990s. Now they are lawyers, investors, and lobbyists perfectly positioned to profit from the $700 billion being handed out by the U.S. Treasury Department. Eric Lipton of the New York Times gives The Takeaway his analysis.

Want more information? Check out Eric Lipton's article in the New York Times.

And the leading indicators aren't looking any better.

The Treasury Department is reportedly in talks with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seeking ways to help drive down mortgage rates. But it is unclear how much the plan might help—and whom it might help. We’re joined by Cristian deRitis, director of Credit Analytics Group at Moody’s Economy.com

The financial markets open just as the Bank of England and the European Central Bank dramatically slash rates.