Public authorities, at the outset of the crisis in mid-2007, focused on the liquidity positions of banking institutions given the remarkable and unprecedented seizure of international interbank lending markets in August 2007 and the sudden high risk aversion displayed by capital markets toward banking institutions due to concerns about bank exposures to sub-prime mortgage assets and the ability of some banks to manage their funding and liquidity risks. Central banks responded with the provision of large amounts of liquidity to the banking system.