Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's surprise announcement Wednesday that he'll shift from purchasing troubled assets under the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan is likely to result in spending taxpayers' dollars to shore up unregulated financial institutions that aren't banks but are vital to consumer lending.

During the negotiations on a bank rescue bill in late September and early October, Paulson argued that he needed broad authority to purchase distressed mortgages and other bad assets in order to clean up bank balance sheets and allow them to resume lending. Despite extensive misgivings, Congress created the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Now Paulson's ripping up that plan.

President George W. Bush today will urge leaders of the world's biggest industrial and developing economies not to abandon principles of free-market capitalism as they seek a way out of an international financial crisis, calling it the ``best system'' for delivering growth.

In a speech in New York before weekend talks among leaders from the Group of 20 nations, Bush will say policy makers "should fix the problems we have rather than dismantle a system that has improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world,'' according to statement released by the White House.

New York State's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, this week issued a subpoena to Bank of America Corp , asking for details on how it allocates its bonuses, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In a letter to BofA, Cuomo's office said the company had responded inadequately to its informal request for information on executive compensation, the paper said.

Two weeks ago Cuomo told BofA and eight other banks receiving government money under the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that using the funds for bonus payments may be illegal under state law.