Possible Clues:

• Tighten belt and get down to it?
• Shoe fastening
• (E.g. belt) fastener; crumple
• Legislature loses heart following dollar's collapse
• Bend almost all of small round shield
• Word that can mean 'join together' or 'fall apart'
• Warp belt’s fastening
• Give way under pressure
• What's spent on Wall Street banks in large-scale collapse
• Clasp a small amount of cash, extremely little