Filed under: bankruptcy, bear sterns, Big Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, FDIC, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, real estate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy, Wall Street | Tags: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., run on banks
Lehman Brothers Bank Files For Bankruptcy
AP
September 15, 2008
Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the biggest bankruptcy filing ever on Monday and said it was trying to sell off key business units.
The filing was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank’s holding company. The case had been assigned to Judge James M. Peck.
Lehman fell under the weight of $60 billion in soured real estate holdings, and the credit market’s dislocation ultimately forced it to seek court protection. The credit crisis has caused global banks to write down more than $300 billion in asset value since last year, and caused the shotgun sales of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear Stearns Cos.
Lehman’s bankruptcy filing marks the end of a Wall Street firm that started the U.S. cotton trade before the Civil War and financed the railroads that built a nation.
noworldsystem.com 