What was the name of the 1997–1998 regional financial crisis that triggered major stock-market falls in Asia?

The 1997–1998 regional financial crisis that triggered major stock-market falls in Asia was the Asian financial crisis.

It began in Thailand after the baht came under intense speculative pressure, leading Thailand to float the currency on July 2, 1997. Currency devaluations and capital flight then spread across Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and other economies. Falling exchange rates increased the local burden of foreign-currency debt and damaged banks and companies.

The International Monetary Fund organized rescue programs for several affected countries, although the conditions attached to those programs remain controversial. Russia experienced a separate crisis in 1998, partly influenced by the broader turmoil. The Asian crisis was therefore not merely a stock-market event: it combined currency collapse, banking distress, recession, and sharp equity-price declines.