The British government announced plans to offer additional financial aide to the nation’s faltering banks on Monday. Like the United States, Britain provided a rescue package to its nation’s banks in October 2008, but banks have not used the money they received to extend more credit to businesses and consumers.

Britain’s new bank-rescue package is designed to encourage banks to lend money despite increasing losses while providing government-backed insurance for bad loans the banks already hold. Critics worry the governments actions bring certain banks, particularly the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), perilously close to nationalization.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday that the government now owns almost 70 percent of RBS, although he declined to say whether the government was keen on nationalizing the bank completely.

Britain’s troubled banks—and the government’s efforts to help them—closely mirror the banking problems and government rescue plans here in the United States. What remains to be see is whether either nation will be successful in quickly resuscitating their banks by providing billions in financial assistance.