The turmoil affecting financial institutions intensified as Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, the US Treasury effectively nationalised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the US$700bn rescue plan proposed by the US Treasury was rejected by Congress, causing further extreme levels of volatility.While government bonds benefited from flights-to-quality, yields on the 10-year benchmark issues were little changed. Over the month, the yield on the 10-year benchmark fell by 3bps and 16bps in the UK and Europe respectively, while 10- year US Treasury yields rose by 1bp. Risk aversion benefited short-dated issues with their yields falling sharply.Yields on the 2- year benchmark fell by 41, 49 and 64bps in the US, UK and Europe, respectively. Although interest rates remained on hold in the US, UK and eurozone, market expectations for rate cuts increased. Currency markets were also volatile. Sterling fell from US$1.83 to US$1.78, although it recovered some ground over the euro.