The pain in the financial industry has rocked the markets and stung shareholders — and some prominent names on Wall Street are suggesting that a well-intentioned accounting rule may be partly to blame.

With their arrest Thursday on a nine-count indictment, two former investment fund managers for banking titan Bear Stearns are now the public face of the nation's mortgage finance meltdown.

Bleak corporate results worldwide and grim news that Germany and Britain face recession raised pressure on world leaders Wednesday ahead of an economic crisis summit as Washington shifted the focus of its financial rescue.

A government order expires Tuesday that temporarily banned a certain kind of short-selling of the stocks of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and 17 large investment banks.

Congressional Democrats and the Bush administration were scrambling on Wednesday to shore up support for a major housing market rescue bill, as Republican backing for it faltered on doubts about adding on a plan to bolster Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.