WaMu’s final days: A 2008 timeline
The ongoing story of Washington Mutual's 2008 closure
Sept. 25, 2008: WaMu is seized by federal regulators and sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The next day, Washington Mutual Inc., the bank holding company, files for bankruptcy protection.
Sept. 23: WaMu’s bank run begins to slow. Meanwhile, potential bidders of the bank grow quiet.
Sept. 20: Former U.S. Treasury secretary Hank Paulson introduces a $700 billion bailout plan to refuel the beleaguered financial system.
Sept. 18: Fishman releases a carefully worded letter to WaMu customers, trying to reassure them about the bank’s soundness.
Sept. 18: WaMu’s bank run peaks as customers withdraw $2.8 billion in one day nationwide.
Sept. 16: The federal government pumps $85 billion into American International Group (AIG), the international insurer.
Sept. 16: Fishman meets with WaMu’s regulators, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), in Washington, D.C. He tells them he has talked with Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase about a buyout.
Sept. 15: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummets 500 points.
Sept. 15: Lehman Bros., the worldwide securities firm, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Sept. 14: Merrill Lynch agrees to sell itself, and its 17,000 brokers, to Bank of America.
Sept. 11: Moody’s cuts WaMu’s debt rating to junk status, rates its financial strength at D+ and issues a negative outlook on the company, citing its asset quality and the potential for future losses. The news sparks WaMu’s second and final bank run.
Sept. 8: Fishman flies to Seattle to meet with WaMu’s executive team. Shortly afterward, he begins seeking a buyer for WaMu.
Sept. 7: Longtime WaMu chief executive Kerry Killinger is ousted by the company’s board of directors. New York banker Alan Fishman is appointed to succeed him.
Sept. 7: The federal government takes over giant mortgage purchasers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they teeter on the brink of failure.
End of August: WaMu executives meet with Moody’s Investors Service about a possible ratings downgrade.
July 30: WaMu’s first run tapers off and deposits return to the bank.
July 12: First bank run on Washington Mutual begins, centered in Southern California.
July 11, 2008: The federal government seizes Pasadena, Calif.-based mortgage lender IndyMac after a $1.3 billion bank run.