Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services corporation formed in 1847 in the United States. Prior to declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (after Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch), employing around 25,000 people globally. It was active in investment banking, stock, fixed-income, and derivatives sales and trading (particularly in US Treasury securities), research, investment management, private equity, and private banking. From its inception in 1850 until 2008, Lehman was in operation for 158 years.

Following the evacuation of most of its clients, precipitous drops in its stock price, and asset devaluation by credit rating agencies, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. Lehman's role in the subprime mortgage crisis, as well as its exposure to less liquid assets, contributed significantly to the bank's demise. Lehman's bankruptcy filing was the largest in US history, and it is regarded to have played a significant part in the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The market crash further bolstered the "too big to fail" notion.

Global markets crashed soon after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. The following day, large British bank Barclays announced an agreement to purchase a significant and controlling interest in Lehman's North American investment-banking and trading departments, as well as its New York headquarters building, subject to regulatory approval. Judge James M. Peck of the United States Bankruptcy Court authorized a revised version of that deal on September 20, 2008. The following week, Nomura Holdings announced the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' Asia-Pacific franchise, which includes Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia, as well as Lehman Brothers' investment banking and equities businesses in Europe and the Middle East. The agreement went into effect on October 13, 2008.

Date: September 15, 2008
Location: United States