Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy on 15 September 2008 intensified the global financial crash.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after suffering enormous losses linked to mortgage-related securities and real-estate investments. With more than $600 billion in assets, it became the largest bankruptcy filing in US history at that time. The collapse shocked markets because investors had expected authorities or another institution to prevent a failure of that scale.
The bankruptcy froze confidence in financial institutions and contributed to severe stress in credit markets. Banks became less willing to lend to one another, share prices fell worldwide, and governments and central banks introduced emergency measures. The event followed the earlier rescue of Bear Stearns and preceded the government-backed stabilization of other major institutions.
Lehman's failure was a major moment in the 2008 financial crisis, but it was not the only cause. The wider crisis involved the US housing downturn, subprime lending, securitized debt, leverage, and weak risk controls. The bankruptcy remains a key example of how interconnected financial institutions can transmit losses globally.