Which institution’s bankruptcy intensified the global stock-market crash of 2008?

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

The investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008, after suffering enormous losses linked largely to mortgage-related securities and real estate. It was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history at that time, with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.

Lehman’s failure shocked markets because it demonstrated that a major global financial institution could collapse. Credit markets tightened sharply, bank shares plunged, and governments responded with emergency lending, guarantees, and recapitalization programs. The crisis had already begun before Lehman failed, especially after the U.S. housing-market downturn and the collapse of the subprime-mortgage boom.

Bear Stearns failed earlier in 2008 and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase. AIG also required a government rescue, but it did not file for bankruptcy. Those events are therefore related but distinct from Lehman’s bankruptcy.