The US Senate prepared to vote early this morning on a revised $700 billion plan aimed at halting the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The House of Representatives is likely to vote by midday tomorrow on the bailout bill if it is approved by the Senate, House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer told reporters yesterday.

The White House and European policymakers urged the US Congress forward, and the chief executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank said Europe should be prepared to take similar steps.

Lawmakers revised the package in talks on Tuesday to increase to $250,000 from $100,000 the limit on individual bank deposits guaranteed by the government. The change was intended to appeal to House Republicans who voted against the bailout plan on Monday.

"We're seeing increased evidence of the credit squeeze on small businesses and municipalities all across the country, so it's critically important that we approve legislation this week and limit further damage to our economy," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU needed stronger financial supervision and greater consistency in national deposit guarantee schemes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host a meeting of senior EU officials on Saturday to coordinate a response to the crisis washing across the Atlantic.

Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the euro zone's finance ministers, said the US had to adopt the plan, a view echoed by Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin.

Wall Street giants Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have been swallowed by rivals, and gone is the investment banking model that dominated for decades after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley sought commercial bank status.