Which company’s failure on September 15, 2008 intensified the global stock-market crash?

Lehman Brothers’ failure on September 15, 2008 intensified the global stock-market crash.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it could not find a buyer or secure a government-backed rescue. It was the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history at that time, with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.

The collapse sharply increased fears about counterparty risk and the health of financial institutions. Interbank lending tightened, credit markets seized up, and stock markets around the world fell. Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America, while the American International Group received emergency government support.

A frequent mix-up is saying Bear Stearns was the firm that filed in September. Bear Stearns collapsed earlier, in March 2008, and JPMorgan Chase acquired it with government assistance. Lehman’s bankruptcy became the defining corporate failure of the crisis's most acute phase.