Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing in September 2008 became a key event in the global financial crisis.
Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. With assets of about $639 billion, it was the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history at that time. The firm had been heavily exposed to mortgage-related securities and real-estate lending.
The collapse intensified a crisis that had already spread through credit markets. Interbank lending became more difficult, stock markets plunged, and governments and central banks introduced emergency measures. Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America, while American International Group received major government support.
Lehman’s failure is often described as the sole cause of the crisis, but that is too simple. Housing-market losses, excessive leverage, fragile short-term funding, and complex securities had created a wider systemic problem.