Which company’s September 2008 bankruptcy intensified the global stock-market crash?

Lehman Brothers’ September 2008 bankruptcy intensified the global stock-market crash.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. With about $639 billion in assets, it became the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history at that time. The collapse followed years of heavy exposure to mortgage-related securities and real-estate finance.

The bankruptcy shocked markets because Lehman was a major global investment bank whose failure affected counterparties and short-term funding markets. Credit became harder to obtain, and investors sold shares of banks, industrial companies, and other businesses around the world.

Bear Stearns is a related but different case: JPMorgan Chase acquired it in March 2008 after a rescue supported by the Federal Reserve. Merrill Lynch was also acquired in September 2008, but it did not file for bankruptcy. These distinctions make Lehman Brothers the specific answer to this question.