Here is a brief summation of the Lehman Brothers collapse and subsequent chaos. The short span of time between the collapse and further problems is telling !
15 September 2008
Lehman Brothers collapses after efforts by Bank of America and then Barclays to take over the Wall Street firm fail. Bank of America instead buys Merrill Lynch.
17 September
Lloyds TSB steps in to rescue HBOS after its share price halves in the first hour of trading as markets are gripped by crisis. The American authorities step in to provide an $85bn lifeline to the insurance company AIG.
20 September
The US treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, ask Congress to back a $700bn plan to buy up bad loans, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Programme or "Tarp". A battle begins in Congress to get the programme passed.
21 September
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley formally become banks, allowing them access to the Federal Reserve's funds but subjecting them to tougher regulation.
7 October
Alistair Darling, the chancellor, is told by the RBS chairman Sir Tom McKillop that the bank only has enough cash in hand to keep operating for a few more hours.
8 October
Iceland's three biggest banks collapse.
11-12 October
Government ministers and top bankers spend the weekend thrashing out plans to bail out RBS, Lloyds and HBOS. Barclays agrees to raise its own funds, eventually turning to investors in the Middle East.
13 October
The bailout is announced and the banking system brought back from the brink. Darling says the government does not want to be "in the business of running banks" – "we are in the business of stabilising banks, that is our purpose".
2 April 2009
A crucial G20 summit approves a planned $5 trillion stimulus for the global economy and agrees to take steps to rein in banks.
27 April
The banking crisis starts to hit eurozone countries, as Greece's sovereign debt is downgraded to junk
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