August 10, 2012 - Major banks in the US have been instructed to put together contingency plans to ensure they could deal with a collapse of their business.

According to documents obtained by Reuters, regulatory bodies across the Atlantic have told five of the country's biggest financiers - Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase - to prepare for such a crisis.

This programme - which has been running for two years - has been created to ensure such companies do not have to rely on assistance from the government should they run into severe financial difficulties.

The Federal Reserve and the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency informed this group of banks to compose these "recovery plans" back in May 2010 and advised them to consider measures such as the sale of business divisions and reducing their exposure to risk.

Furthermore, it is compulsory for the banks to make sure such plans can be fully implemented within three to six months, the papers added.