Since it is chillingly clear that U.S. financial institutions have for a good while been regulated no more stringently than, say, demolition derby drivers, Washington has belatedly locked the garage door and begun to debate strict new rules. The blueprint at hand is President Obama's sweeping proposal in mid-June to revamp the responsibilities of government agencies and impose new regulations on the financial establishment. Nothing about this plan will fall easily into place: Too many government agencies will dig in their heels. Too many financial companies will battle every aspect of reform that threatens their bottom lines.
We're about to mark the second anniversary of the financial meltdown. But don't expect to see any clinking of champagne glasses, because except for a handful of prescient (or lucky) speculators, it's been a ghastly two years. The nightmare started June 12, 2007, when news broke that two Bear Stearns hedge funds speculating in mortgage-backed securities were melting down. That was the precursor to the panics and collapses that have led to a worldwide recession and the fall of mighty institutions like Bear, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against the operators of the Reserve Primary Fund for failing to provide important information to investors and trustees about the fund's exposure to Lehman Brothers.
Imagine you're running an expansion team and the New York Yankees run into major financial problems. Derek Jeter and A-Rod are suddenly available...and affordable. That's the position in the M&A world where Peter J. Solomon, the 70-year-old head of his own investment bank, finds himself today. Solomon left Lehman Brothers, where he was a vice chairman of the firm and co-chairman of investment banking, 20 years ago because he thought the existing business model on Wall Street was broken.
It is axiomatic that to solve a problem, one must first understand it. To that end, I have devoted my spare time in recent months to studying our financial crisis - unearthing its root causes, delving into its manifold consequences and pondering its far-reaching implications.
It's not easy going to a job interview when the first item people see listed in your "experience" column is a name synonymous with financial disaster. "One of the things I've discovered is that having Lehman on your resume is not a good thing," says Anthony Singh with a slight smile.
It wasn't Dick Fuld's fault. No, not at all. How could anyone stop a financial tsunami? That's the audacious argument posed by Harvey Miller, lead bankruptcy attorney for the firm Weil Gotshal and advocate extraordinaire in mounting the first vigorous public defense of Dick Fuld, the widely discredited former CEO of Lehman Brothers. Miller effectively tries to absolve Fuld, his client, of any and all blame for the demise of the 158-year-old investment bank.
Taxes aren't the only question facing Tim Geithner.
If the story of 2008 was the government's unprecedented multi-trillion dollar bailouts of the financial sector, then the credit market was the story behind the story.
The world changed forever on Sept. 15, 2008, the Monday Meltdown, a day that will live in the annals of finance alongside Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929. We are still odds-on to avoid a depression like the one that followed Oct. 29, but the Monday Meltdown made one more likely, and has claimed trillions of dollars of wealth worldwide and triggered a global recession. Understanding the financial shock that occurred that day is vital to finding a way out of our current mess.
Since it is chillingly clear that U.S. financial institutions have for a good while been regulated no more stringently than, say, demolition derby drivers, Washington has belatedly locked the garage door and begun to debate strict new rules. The blueprint at hand is President Obama's sweeping proposal in mid-June to revamp the responsibilities of government agencies and impose new regulations on the financial establishment. Nothing about this plan will fall easily into place: Too many government agencies will dig in their heels. Too many financial companies will battle every aspect of reform that threatens their bottom lines.
We're about to mark the second anniversary of the financial meltdown. But don't expect to see any clinking of champagne glasses, because except for a handful of prescient (or lucky) speculators, it's been a ghastly two years. The nightmare started June 12, 2007, when news broke that two Bear Stearns hedge funds speculating in mortgage-backed securities were melting down. That was the precursor to the panics and collapses that have led to a worldwide recession and the fall of mighty institutions like Bear, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against the operators of the Reserve Primary Fund for failing to provide important information to investors and trustees about the fund's exposure to Lehman Brothers.
Imagine you're running an expansion team and the New York Yankees run into major financial problems. Derek Jeter and A-Rod are suddenly available...and affordable. That's the position in the M&A world where Peter J. Solomon, the 70-year-old head of his own investment bank, finds himself today. Solomon left Lehman Brothers, where he was a vice chairman of the firm and co-chairman of investment banking, 20 years ago because he thought the existing business model on Wall Street was broken.
It is axiomatic that to solve a problem, one must first understand it. To that end, I have devoted my spare time in recent months to studying our financial crisis - unearthing its root causes, delving into its manifold consequences and pondering its far-reaching implications.
It's not easy going to a job interview when the first item people see listed in your "experience" column is a name synonymous with financial disaster. "One of the things I've discovered is that having Lehman on your resume is not a good thing," says Anthony Singh with a slight smile.
It wasn't Dick Fuld's fault. No, not at all. How could anyone stop a financial tsunami? That's the audacious argument posed by Harvey Miller, lead bankruptcy attorney for the firm Weil Gotshal and advocate extraordinaire in mounting the first vigorous public defense of Dick Fuld, the widely discredited former CEO of Lehman Brothers. Miller effectively tries to absolve Fuld, his client, of any and all blame for the demise of the 158-year-old investment bank.
Taxes aren't the only question facing Tim Geithner.
If the story of 2008 was the government's unprecedented multi-trillion dollar bailouts of the financial sector, then the credit market was the story behind the story.
The world changed forever on Sept. 15, 2008, the Monday Meltdown, a day that will live in the annals of finance alongside Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929. We are still odds-on to avoid a depression like the one that followed Oct. 29, but the Monday Meltdown made one more likely, and has claimed trillions of dollars of wealth worldwide and triggered a global recession. Understanding the financial shock that occurred that day is vital to finding a way out of our current mess.
At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, the FSA signed off and Barclays announced it had bought much of Lehman's business in the U.S., subject to bankruptcy court approval, which was granted - on an extremely expedited basis - on Friday, September 19. "Lehman Brothers became a victim," Judge James Peck said in approving the deal. "In effect, the only true icon to fall in the tsunami that has befallen the credit markets. And it saddens me."
At close to midnight, Mark Shafir, Lehman's global head of M&A, and Mark Shapiro, the head of Lehman's restructuring practice, went to see Fuld in his 31st floor office. They told Fuld there was a way Barclays could buy Lehman's U.S. securities business out of bankruptcy, which would get Barclays what it really wanted and potentially save 10,000 jobs.
Back uptown, at Lehman, Fuld and McDade were making frantic calls to whoever would listen to their pleas for help, including Paulson, Cox and Geithner. "But it crystallized in the course of the afternoon that it didn't look like they were going to do anything for us," a senior Lehman official said, despite Fuld's belief after having dinner with Paulson in April that "we have huge brand with [T]reasury."
On Sunday morning, the executive group re-assembled at the Fed at nine o'clock. "Everything was ready to go on Sunday morning," one participant said. "People were happy with the term sheet, so there was a doable deal on the table." Steve Shafran, a senior advisor to Paulson and an ex-Goldman Sachs partner, told a group of Lehman Brothers executives at the Fed that morning, "It looks like we may have the outlines of a deal around the financing." After which, the Lehman bankers thought they had saved their firm.
With Bank of America out of the mix, the bankers at the New York Fed examined a proposal by Barclays, whereby the British bank would acquire all of Lehman except for the firm's commercial real-estate asset book, which had a face value of $40 billion (before writedowns).
Earlier in the week, Paulson had called Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, and asked him to take one for the team by looking seriously at buying Lehman. (Some people believe that Paulson also gave his former colleagues at Goldman Sachs an early peek at the Lehman books, too.) Representatives from Bank of America flew up from its corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina and met with Lehman bankers at the midtown offices of Sullivan & Cromwell, Lehman's legal advisors.
Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, and Christopher Cox, the chairman of the SEC, flew up from Washington on Friday for a 6 p.m. meeting with Geithner to discuss what the plan for the weekend would be. Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, stayed in Washington to coordinate a response with the leaders of other central banks around the globe. Going into the weekend, there were two potential suitors for Lehman Brothers - Bank of America and London-based Barclays.
On the surface, this financial crisis seems pretty complicated. Wall Street firms made convoluted bets on exotic mortgage securities, and those bets failed for a complex set of reasons. But in fact, investment banks went under for reasons that were quite basic.
Lehman Brothers' epic collapse two months ago marked a stunning turning point in the financial markets from which Wall Street is still recovering.
If you visit Lehman Brothers' website today, more than a month after the investment bank's plunge into bankruptcy, you can still find the following words: "The effective management of risk is one of the core strengths that has made Lehman Brothers so successful."
Investors who wagered that Washington Mutual would somehow survive the latest market turmoil will have to pay far less than some had feared.
Robert Diamond looks wiped. It's just after noon in London, and the president of Barclays - the newest power broker on Wall Street - is trying to snatch a few moments of calm. He ignores the gigantic TV suspended above his desk with its scrolling news of financial doom. European markets have continued to fall, despite an $87 billion British government financial bailout and a concerted round of interest rate cuts by central banks.
Former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld has been subpoenaed in connection with three grand jury probes into the investment bank's bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy filing told CNN Friday.
One important method of short-term lending remained under fire last week, but there were signs of hope for it.
Privately scoffing at the U.S., European governments move to take partial control of their banks -- in spite of the spotty record of state intervention
As the economic downturn takes out Wall Street's power brokers, it may also collapse the charities depending on their largesse
September was arguably the worst month in hedge fund history, as unprecedented volatility in the capital markets forced once-mighty investment managers to book losses that had been thought unimaginable.
Barclays PLC will cut about 3,000 jobs in the aftermath of its purchase of bankrupt Lehman Brothers' North American investment banking and capital markets businesses, Fortune has learned.
After coordinated interest-rate cuts by central bankers and approval of a $700 billion rescue plan did little to unlock credit markets, Treasury officials are now discussing whether it's time for the government to take a direct ownership stake in the banking system.
Leverage, the menace that helped bring down some of the biggest names on Wall Street, is now threatening the health of big banks across the Atlantic.
David Einhorn should be celebrating one of the best months of his career. Two companies whose stock he bet big against - Lehman Brothers and Allied Capital - suffered grave blows, with Lehman filing for bankruptcy and Allied shares plunging 60%.
After much ado, the government appears ready to toss a lifeline to Wall Street. But with policymakers frantically battling to keep the economy out of a deep slump, it won't be the only one needed.
When Erin Callan, Lehman Brothers' onetime golden girl, left the firm in July, it was a tumultuous end to what had been a stellar 13-year run. She'd risen from tax lawyer to investment banker to a six-month stint as CFO - and was then thrown under the bus by her mentor, CEO Dick Fuld, as Lehman's share price tanked and rumors swirled about the firm's imminent demise.
As some of the world's largest banks teetered on financial demise, college seniors and recent alums had more on their minds than what it meant for their financial aid and student loans.
This story was written by CNNMoney.com writers Tami Luhby and David Ellis and Fortune.com writers Roddy Boyd and Colin Barr.
Treasury prices rallied sharply Monday after Lehman Brothers announced it will file for bankruptcy, sending a jolt of insecurity through Wall Street. The dollar gained ground against the euro.
Wall Street was a vastly different world Monday from what it looked like just days earlier, following one of the most harrowing days in the history of U.S. financial industry.
Lehman Brothers employees face the bleakest employment conditions in recent Wall Street history, and experts say there will likely be more painful financial sector job losses to come.
Rumor has it that Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld recently wanted to turn off the firm's signature Jumbotron, the giant panels that flash the Lehman name day and night at its headquarters in New York's theater district.
The U.S. financial crisis has pushed Fed chief Ben Bernanke off the front page lately, but he may soon return with a vengeance.
Despite fears, the best advice right now is to do nothing
Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke have saved us, for now, from a market meltdown - but at the cost of allowing the folks who caused the current crisis to keep ducking reality.
Far from stabilizing the financial system, the federal bailout barrage appears to have left investors shell-shocked.
A witch hunt has started for the investors who bet that stocks would go down. Did they cause the fall of Lehman and Merrill?
Central banks around the world are pumping billions of dollars into money markets in a coordinated bid to calm global financial upheaval.
For years the financial markets roared along as if there were nothing to fear. Now it's payback time -- and all of us will be feeling the pain
Stocks plummeted Wednesday, with the Dow industrials falling 449 points in its second worst session of the year, as the government's emergency rescue of AIG amplified fears about the stability of financial markets.
Stocks tumbled Wednesday morning, as the government's rescue of AIG and Barclays' purchase of some of bankrupt Lehman's operations underscored the ongoing turmoil in financial markets.
If the death of Lehman Brothers upset the financial world, a collapse at AIG would have turned the credit markets upside down.
Stocks rallied Tuesday as investors focused on the positive implications for the economy in the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady, and on diminishing fears about AIG's solvency.
Here are some questions and answers for worried investors after Wall Street's bloody day
Stocks slipped Tuesday morning as investors considered Goldman Sachs' mixed profit report and the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting, after the previous session's brutal selloff.
Lehman employees leaving work on the day the firm filed for bankruptcy faced a tumult of reporters, gawkers, opportunists -- and even a few who just wanted to help
After Lehman Brothers' demise, the Dow Jones average drops more than 500 points. But there are encouraging signs as well
As the credit crisis spreads throughout the financial sector, brokerages are suffering their own version of Chinese water torture.
While British banks may not be overly exposed to the crippled U.S. giant, but the loss of thousands more finance jobs adds to the City's misery
When Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on Monday, the government essentially sat on the sideline. Six months ago, when Bear Stearns faced a similar fate, the Federal Reserve intervened with the Treasury Department's support.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and Bank of America is buying Merrill Lynch. With the changing banking landscape, here's what you need to know about the safety of your own bank.
The venerable Lehman Brothers investment bank said early Monday that it will file for bankruptcy, while Bank of America unveiled plans to buy Merrill Lynch -- two pieces of news that profoundly alter the American financial landscape.
Economists are gauging whether the current meltdown will have long-term ramifications beyond Wall Street
The sad fate of Lehman Brothers is a cautionary tale of what's gone wrong with Wall Street.
In the end, the weight of the housing collapse was too much for the weaker players in an over-leveraged U.S. financial sector to bear.
Wall Street braced for a huge stock selloff Monday after one of the most calamitous days in U.S. financial services history resulted in Bank of America's $50 billion deal to buy Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers.
The last hours, minutes really, of one the world's largest investment banks make for a pretty unusual spectacle.
When Wall Street woke up Monday morning, two more of its storied firms had fallen
After enduring one of the most dramatic days in its history, Wall Street received a climactic jolt on Monday when Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank undermined by bad bets on real estate, said it will file for bankruptcy.
Barclays PLC has pulled out of talks to buy parts of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
You may think there are enough bad banks out there as it is. But if federal officials have their way, there may soon be at least one more- and, believe it or not, that's a good thing.
A crew of top federal officials has spent the past year racing from one fire to the next in a harried effort to smother financial blazes that keep inflaming the markets and threatening the rest of the economy.
With the fate of beleaguered Lehman Brothers in the balance, some of Wall Street's most powerful executives and regulators huddled on Saturday to try to resolve the crisis facing Lehman and rocking the financial markets.
If nothing else, we've learned recently that if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. Presumably that has always been true - unless of course the pig in question was a subprime mortgage derivative, circa 2006. Then it was quite possibly a "runaway bargain," a "great time to buy," or an "opportunity in a market that's only going to go up."
With the global financial system holding its collective breath, the U.S. government scrambled Saturday to help devise a rescue for Lehman Brothers and restore confidence in Wall Street and the American financial structure
Stocks were volatile Friday as investors faced uncertainty about whether Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual are likely to find buyers and whether AIG will shed its sour mortgage-related assets.
In the giant glass box that holds Lehman Brothers headquarters, plenty of employees were still toiling away Friday afternoon as they waited to learn the firm's fate. Others, though, were heading across 50th Street for a not-so-happy hour.
Bank of America has apparently emerged as the likely "white knight" bidder for Lehman Brothers.
Stocks slumped at the open Friday as investors mulled a surprise drop in retail sales and Lehman Brothers' race to sell all or part of itself within the next few days.
Top executives are racing to put a sale of the beleaguered investment bank in place before it loses further market value and confidence
Shares of Lehman Brothers suffered another painful drop on Thursday as doubts swirled about the company's future and several analysts downgraded their ratings on the stock.
On Wednesday, Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld offered up a radical plan to save his beleagured firm. Today the capital markets are giving him the thumbs down.
Stocks rallied Thursday after a report about potential buyers of Lehman Brothers - including Bank of America - gave investors some reassurance at the end of a choppy session.
Treasury prices gave up earlier gains Thursday as the stock market clawed its way back into positive territory, and lower oil prices overcame worries about the financial sector.
World stock markets fell sharply Thursday as troubles at U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers fanned fears of more credit-market losses and drove down financial company shares across the region
Stocks tumbled at the open Thursday as investors faced renewed worries about Lehman Brothers' solvency, a wider-than-expected trade deficit and a weak unemployment claims report.
Stocks ended higher Wednesday as investors scooped up shares battered in the previous session's selloff and sorted through Lehman Brothers' steep quarterly loss and restructuring plans.
Lehman Brothers took the rare move of pre-announcing its third quarter earnings to quell the rampant speculation surrounding its financial health.
Lehman Brothers continues to talk a good game, but the time for action is running short.
The dollar gained Wednesday, rising to a value against the euro not seen since last September, as Lehman Brothers' dismal results were seen as highlighting the currency's safety.
The struggling investment bank Lehman Brothers said that it would report a $3.9 billion loss for the third quarter and would sell a majority stake in its investment management unit as it struggles to stay afloat
Korea Development Bank said Tuesday it is in the hunt for troubled U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, confirming weeks of speculation over its intentions amid expectations the Wall Street institution is in dire need of a capital injection
Wall Street had a mixed day on Monday after weak economic reports revived recession fears and oil prices retreated from a new record near $140 a barrel.
Stock futures rose Monday as investors aimed to recover from a dramatic selloff on Wall Street and digested news coming out of investment banking giant Lehman Brothers.
Stocks closed Wednesday's session mixed, at the end of a choppy session, after reports that Moody's may lower the credit ratings of two key bond insurers overshadowed some upbeat economic data and lower oil prices.
The trade deficit rose in February, contrary to an expected decrease, according to a government report Thursday.
One of the most competitive presidential elections in years is also on track to become the most expensive election ever, according to OpenSecrets.org, the web site of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
U.S. stocks were poised to open lower Thursday as skepticism grew over a global plan aimed at fighting the credit crisis and investors awaited a slew of economic readings and earnings from Lehman Brothers.
Stocks rallied Tuesday afternoon as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at the conclusion of its policy meeting, currently underway.
Stocks rallied early Tuesday afternoon as investors welcomed Lehman Brothers' earnings and a mild reading on wholesale inflation ahead of an expected interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. stocks pushed forward at the start of trading Tuesday as investors considered inflation data and Lehman Brothers results while expecting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Thursday it is laying off 850 people as part of a global scale down of the investment bank's mortgage business.
Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH) ranks no. 47 on FORTUNE's list of America's largest corporations.
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