NEW YORK (AP) – The nation’s three largest banks said Monday they are teaming up to create a rescue fund of sorts – potentially as large as $100 billion – to help bail out troubled global credit markets.

Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & Co., at the prodding of the Treasury Department, will buy distressed debt from markets roiled during the summer’s financial crisis.

The plan is designed to inject more confidence into the market and increase investor appetite for the short-term debt known as commercial paper. The market for commercial paper, which is crucial for companies to fund short-term borrowing needs and which has historically been considered very safe, locked up this summer.

That followed a crisis in the mortgage industry, as people defaulted on their home loans at a skyrocketing rate. It caused a widespread aversion to risk and led the Federal Reserve to pump money into the financial system, though the latest plan relies more heavily on the banks themselves.