Lehman Brothers became a major symbol of the 2008 global financial crisis after filing for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008.
Lehman was a large American investment bank with extensive exposure to mortgages and mortgage-related securities. As U.S. housing prices fell and defaults increased, the value of many assets on its balance sheet became uncertain. The firm struggled to raise capital or find a buyer acceptable to regulators and creditors.
Its bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history at the time. The event intensified fear about the solvency of financial institutions and contributed to a severe worldwide credit freeze. Governments and central banks then introduced emergency lending, guarantees, capital injections, and other measures to stabilize the financial system.
Lehman was not the first institution affected by the crisis: Bear Stearns had been rescued earlier in 2008, while Washington Mutual later became a major bank failure. The crisis involved housing, credit, banking, and stock markets together.