TWELVE regional United States banks, including SunTrust Banks Inc and Capital One Financial Corp, accepted about US$28 billion in government cash as the Treasury rolled out the second half of its US$250-billion package to shore up lenders and thaw frozen credit markets.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is doling out cash to recapitalize struggling lenders and jump-start takeovers in an industry suffering from the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression.

SunTrust, Capital One, KeyCorp and PNC Financial Services Group Inc are among lenders that accepted cash in recent days by selling preferred shares to the government, Bloomberg News reported.

"We're happy to do our part to support the financial and economic stability of the US," said Capital One spokeswoman Tatiana Stead. The Virginia-based bank is raising US$3.6 billion.

The US capital infusions come as global governments do all they can to ensure the stability of banks. Kuwait's central bank said it would guarantee deposits at Gulf Bank KSC, which remains solvent after clients defaulted on currency derivatives contracts, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported yesterday.

Paulson has already given US$125 billion to nine of the biggest US lenders.