Lehman Brothers' failure in September 2008 became a pivotal event in the global financial crisis.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 15 September 2008. At the time, it was the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. The firm had accumulated substantial exposure to real estate and mortgage-related assets, and confidence in its balance sheet deteriorated as housing and credit markets weakened.
The bankruptcy intensified stress in money markets and financial institutions around the world. It followed the collapse of Bear Stearns earlier in 2008, but Lehman's failure had an especially broad impact because markets had not fully absorbed the consequences of allowing a major global investment bank to fail.
Lehman is sometimes confused with Merrill Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America during the same crisis period. Washington Mutual also failed in 2008, but it was a large savings and loan institution rather than the investment bank named here.