If Gordon Brown's visit to Wall Street yesterday was meant to boost his standing among the masters of the universe he has work to do.

If Gordon Brown's visit to Wall Street yesterday was meant to boost his standing among the masters of the universe he has work to do.

"Is that spelt B-R-A-N?" the woman in Goldman Sachs's New York-based economics department asked The Herald yesterday. Eventually, the penny dropped. "Is he the new prime minister?". No-one there felt equipped to discuss Wall Street's view on the UK premier.

"We don't have anyone who has published on that subject," said Merrill Lynch's research department. "We can't help you."

Brown was in town to meet key Wall Street players in a visit that was profile raising and an attempt to pressure worldwide financial institutions into quickly declaring their losses relating to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent credit crunch.

"What I believe we have to see is concerted inter- national action to ensure there is disclosure and transparency so that the write- offs that have to take place happen quickly ," he said.

He also promised more UK government action after a £15bn injection into money markets on Tuesday to help banks struggling to raise finance. One option being considered by the government, it emerged yesterday, is allowing lenders to swap mortgage collateral for government bonds. The plan was loudly condemned by the Liberal Democrats for putting taxpayers' money at risk, although a Bank of England spokesman said any risk of defaults would remain with the banks.

Among those US bankers invited to meet Brown, only two days after he held a meeting with their UK counterparts, were thought to be the chiefs of investment banks JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers and a senior Citigroup executive.

Not thought to be on the guest list was hedge fund manager John Paulson, who it was revealed yesterday was the sector's biggest earner last year, taking home $3.7bn, after betting against the very sub-prime mortgages and complex financial products that created the very crisis that appears to be shaking faith in Brown's skills.

Brown will today breakfast with former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, famous for his complex explanations of economic events, before continuing his discussions about the ongoing market ructions with President George W Bush, who has quite a different reputation.