Which investment bank filed for bankruptcy in 2008?

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, becoming the most prominent corporate failure of the global financial crisis.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The firm had accumulated major exposures to subprime mortgages and other troubled real-estate assets, while investors increasingly doubted its financial position. Emergency weekend negotiations involving potential buyers failed to produce a rescue.

The filing was historically significant because Lehman was a major global investment bank, not a small specialist lender. Its collapse intensified panic in credit markets, contributed to a sharp stock-market decline, and helped turn the mortgage crisis into a worldwide financial crisis. Lehman reportedly held more than $600 billion in assets when it filed.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley survived the crisis, while Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America. Bear Stearns did not file for bankruptcy; JPMorgan Chase acquired it in a government-supported rescue earlier in 2008.