Brown calls for second wave attack on crisis

By Matt Falloon

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown will on Wednesday urge Europe to follow up action to revive the banking system with changes to the architecture of the financial system to avoid a repeat of the credit crunch.

Many countries are following Britain's lead in pumping taxpayers' money into banks to restore confidence, alongside big injections of liquidity into markets and underwriting lending between banks.

But Brown, eager to build on a growing reputation at home and abroad as a policymaker at the frontline of the financial crisis, told reporters on Tuesday that the international community must go further.

"The stakes are higher than ever before. The coming days will be crucial for the international financial community," Brown said.

"We not only need to take what I call the stage one measures which countries are now taking ... but we also need to consider the stage two measures which is the assurance to the public that the problems that brought us to this place cannot happen again."

Brown will attend a meeting of European Union leaders on Wednesday, with conditions in financial markets likely to dominate the agenda.

After Britain announced last week it was prepared to invest 50 billion pounds in banks to boost confidence and get them lending again, the United States, Germany and France have followed suit with smaller economies also taking similar steps.

That has restored some stability to stock markets which fell heavily last week as fears grew about the ability of banks to stay in business.