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What's This?
This timeline allows you to view the critical events that led up to the
financial crisis, as well as what happened during the crisis itself. To see the
events on the timeline, click on the dots below. For more context, use the
pull-down box at the left to view major economic indicators over time. Many
terms used in this timeline are defined in the site’s Glossary section.
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1. 1863 - 1989
2. 1990
3. 1991
4. 1992
5. 1993
6. 1994
7. 1995
8. 1996
9. 1997
10. 1998
11. 1999
12. 2000
13. 2001
14. 2002
15. 2003
16. 2004
17. 2005
18. 2006
19. 2007
20. 2008
21. 2009
22. 2010
* range not to scale
1. 1.
1863
Congress enacts the National Currency Act, creating the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency to charter and regulate national banks.
2.
1913
Congress enacts the Federal Reserve Act, also known as the Owen-Glass
Act, to create the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), consisting of a
public Board of Governors overseeing a system of privately owned
reserve banks.
3.
1929
The stock market crashes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average would lose
89% of its value from its peak in September 1929 through July 1932.
4.
1933
Congress enacts the Banking Act (Glass-Steagall Act) of 1933, which
established bank deposit insurance and prohibited the undertaking of
commercial banking and securities activities within a single firm.
5.
1933
Congress enacts the Securities Act of 1933, which created new
transparency requirements for securities offerings.
6.
1934
Congress enacts the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the
Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate securities brokers,
dealers, and exchanges.
7.
1936
Congress enacts the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, which established
federal regulation of futures and options markets in certain
agricultural commodities.
8.
1938
Congress enacts the National Housing Act of 1938 and the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) charters the Federal National Mortgage
Association (Fannie Mae) to provide liquidity in the secondary market
for mortgages. Fannie Mae purchases, holds, or sells FHA-insured
mortgage loans originated by private lenders.
9.
1940
Congress enacts the Investment Company Act of 1940, which defined
investment companies (including mutual funds) and placed them under the
regulation of the SEC; and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, which
created regulations for investment advisers.
10.
1956
Congress enacts the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 that regulates the
actions of bank holding companies, restricting their activities as well
as bank mergers and acquisitions.
11.
1968
Congress enacts the Charter Act converting Fannie Mae into two separate
organizations: A new, privately owned Fannie Mae becomes a
government-sponsored enterprise responsible for the self-supporting
secondary market operations. The Government National Mortgage
Association (“Ginnie Mae”) continues as a federal agency responsible
for financing then-existing special housing assistance programs such as
those for veterans and farmers.
12.
1969
Standard and Poor’s (S&P) announces that it will charge a fee for
municipal bond ratings. Between 1968 and 1974, Moody’s and S&P convert
from a subscriber-pays model to an issuer-pays model.
13.
1970
Ginnie Mae issues its first mortgage-backed security.
14.
1970
Congress enacts the Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970 to create the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), authorizing the
new government-sponsored enterprise to create a secondary market for
conventional mortgages and providing Fannie Mae with parallel authority
and limitations.
15.
1974
Congress amends the Commodity Exchange Act to create the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission to regulate futures and options markets and
to extend regulation to virtually all futures and options.
16.
1975
The Securities and Exchange Commission implements the Net Capital Rule,
which requires that broker-dealers have sufficient liquid resources to
meet short-term balance sheet claims and to serve as a cushion against
market liquidity risks.
17.
1977
Congress enacts the Community Reinvestment Act to encourage depository
institutions to meet the credit needs of all segments of the
communities in which they take deposits, including low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound
operations.
18.
1978
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issues its first
regulations encouraging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to promote
affordable housing, as Congress authorized under the 1968 Charter Act.
19.
1980
Congress enacts the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary
Control Act, repealing the limits on the interest rates that depository
institutions can offer on their deposits.
20.
1981
Bank supervisors establish the first formal minimum capital standards,
mandating that capital – the amount by which assets exceed debt and
other liabilities – should be at least 5% of assets for most banks.
21.
1981
The first Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities are issued.
22.
1982
Congress enacts the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act,
expanding the powers of thrifts (also known as savings and loans) to
engage in a broader range of activities, increasing FDIC authority to
assist troubled banks, and allowing banks and thrifts to provide
adjustable rate mortgage loans.
23.
1982
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rules that the affiliates of
banks it supervises are not covered by the Glass-Steagall Act.
24.
1984
Federal regulators rescue Continental Illinois, the nation’s
7th-largest bank. During a hearing on that rescue, Congressman Stewart
McKinney coins the term, “Too Big To Fail.” During the banking and
savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, almost 3,000 commercial
banks and thrifts failed.
25.
October 1984
Congress enacts the Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act,
permitting financial institutions to invest in mortgage-related
securities if the securities have high ratings from at least one rating
agency.
26.
1985
Brokerage firm Bear Stearns forms a holding company, the Bear Stearns
Companies Inc., and reorganizes from a partnership into the first major
stand-alone publicly traded full-service investment firm.
27.
1987
The Federal Reserve rules that “bank-ineligible” activities can make up
as much as 5% of the business of bank holding company subsidiaries;
that fraction would rise to 25% by 1997.
28.
January 1987
American International Group (AIG) branches out from its core insurance
business to form AIG Financial Products, a subsidiary that engages in
complex derivatives trades.
29.
August 1987
Alan Greenspan becomes chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, replacing
Paul Volcker.
30.
1988
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision introduces a capital
measurement system commonly referred to as the Basel Capital Accord, or
Basel I, establishing a minimum capital ratio of capital to
risk-weighted assets of 8%.
31.
1989
Congress enacts the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and
Enforcement Act of 1989, creating the Resolution Trust Corporation to
resolve failing institutions during the savings and loan crisis; it
also abolishes the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and creates the Office
of Thrift Supervision to supervise savings and loans.
2. 1.
February 1990
Investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert files for bankruptcy due to
losses on its junk bond portfolio and its inability to obtain funding.
2.
1990
The Securities and Exchange Commission creates Rule 144A, allowing
unregistered resale of certain securities to “qualified institutional
buyers.” This would become the typical path for issuing collateralized
debt obligations (CDOs).
3. 1.
1991
Congress enacts the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement
Act, seeking to curb the use of taxpayer funds to rescue failing
depository institutions and giving the FDIC new regulatory powers.
4. 1.
October 1992
Congress enacts the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and
Soundness Act, creating the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight (OFHEO) to oversee the safety and soundness of the
government-sponsored enterprises. HUD is directed to assign specific
affordable housing goals to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with regard to
low and moderate income families and underserved areas.
2.
October 1992
Congress enacts the Futures Trading Practices Act, granting the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission the power to exempt
over-the-counter derivatives and other transactions from regulation. The
following year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission exempts certain
over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives from the exchange trading
requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act.
5.
6. 1.
September 1994
The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act permits
bank holding companies to acquire banks in any state and allows banks to
open new branches in more than one state.
2.
September 1994
The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) is enacted and
provides the Fed authority to curb abuses in the mortgage market.
3.
1994
Procter & Gamble, Gibson Greeting Cards, and Orange County suffer losses
on over-the-counter derivatives products sold to them by investment
banks. Bankers Trust is fined $10 million by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission and Securities Exchange Commission for misleading
Gibson on interest rate swaps resulting in a mark-to-market loss of $23
million (larger than Gibson’s prior year profits). Orange County files
for bankruptcy after announcing a loss of $1.5 billion speculating in
derivatives. It is the largest bankruptcy by a municipality in U.S.
history.
7. 1.
May 1995
Federal regulators issue regulations under the Community Reinvestment
Act with the intent of shifting the regulatory focus from banks’ efforts
to comply to the actual results.
2.
June 1995
President Bill Clinton announces an initiative to boost homeownership
from 65.1% to 67.4% of families by 2000.
8. 1.
1996
The Office of Thrift Supervision reasserts its position that its
regulations preempt those of states with respect to nationally chartered
thrifts.
9.
10. 1.
1998
AIG writes the first credit default swap on a collateralized debt
obligation (CDO).
2.
January 1998
The Market Risk Amendment to Basel I becomes mandatory for U.S. banks
with significant market risk exposure. The amendment requires that banks
use the Value at Risk model to measure risks associated with trading
activities.
3.
January 1998
The Federal Reserve formalizes a long-standing policy in connection with
examinations by announcing that the “Federal Reserve will (1) not
routinely conduct consumer compliance examinations of nonbank
subsidiaries of bank holding companies and (2) not investigate consumer
complaints relating to these subsidiaries.”
4.
May 1998
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under Chairperson
Brooksley Born, issues a concept release regarding whether it should
regulate the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. On the day that
the concept release was issued, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Fed
Chairman Alan Greenspan, and SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt issued a joint
statement: “We have grave concerns about this action and its possible
consequences. We are very concerned about reports that the CFTC’s action
may increase the legal uncertainty concerning certain types of OTC
derivatives.” They proposed a moratorium on the CFTC’s ability to
regulate OTC derivatives, which was enacted by Congress in October 1998.
5.
July 1998
The Federal Reserve and Department of Housing and Urban Development
issue a joint report on predatory lending. The report highlights certain
abuses in mortgage lending and suggests that the increasing
securitization of subprime mortgages would likely limit widespread
abuses.
6.
September 1998
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York orchestrates a $3.6 billion rescue
of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) by 14 major over-the-counter
(OTC) derivatives dealers. LTCM had amassed more than $1 trillion in
notional amount of OTC derivatives and $125 billion of securities on
$4.8 billion of capital without the knowledge of its major derivatives
counterparties or federal regulators.
7.
October 1998
Travelers Insurance Group and Citicorp merge to form Citigroup. The
Federal Reserve approved the merger but Citigroup would have to divest
itself of many Travelers assets within five years unless Congress
amended the Bank Holding Company Act.
11. 1.
March 1999
The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift
Supervision issue “Interagency Guidance on Subprime Lending,”
emphasizing the need for increased capital, risk management, and board
and senior management oversight for banks that have subprime lending
programs.
2.
1999
North Carolina enacted laws aimed at curbing high-cost and predatory
mortgages; by 2007, 29 states and the District of Columbia would pass
some form of anti-predatory lending legislation.
3.
November 1999
Congress enacts the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, amending the Glass-Steagall
Act to allow a bank or financial holding company to own and operate,
although separately, a commercial bank and a broker-dealer, and
overturning restrictions on their insurance activities.
4.
1999
Losses on the residual tranches of subprime mortgage-backed securities
lead to failures of Keystone and Superior Banks.
12. 1.
March 2000
The technology-heavy Nasdaq stock market index peaks at over 5000 but
soon tumbles, losing half its value by the end of 2000.
2.
March 2000
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury
Department convene the National Predatory Lending Task Force.
3.
December 2000
Congress enacts the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, fully
deregulating over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
13. 1.
January 2001
The Federal Reserve under Chairman Alan Greenspan begins interest rate
cuts that gradually lower rates from 6.5% to 1% by 2003, and leaves them
at that level for a year.
2.
March 2001
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues Citigroup’s subprime lending
affiliate, Associates First Capital Corporation, charging it with
systematic and widespread deceptive and abusive lending practices
undertaken prior to its acquisition by Citigroup. Citigroup settles with
the FTC and pays a $215 million fine.
3.
September 2001
Terrorist attacks on New York and Washington roil financial markets. The
Fed injects liquidity into the economy and arranges foreign exchange
swap lines with the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the
Bank of Canada.
4.
November 2001
Bank regulators issue the Recourse Rule, which sets capital standards
for structured-finance securities based on credit ratings.
Triple-A-rated securities (such as mortgage-backed securities and
collateralized debt obligations) require a risk-based capital charge of
1.6%.
5.
December 2001
In response to concerns about predatory lending practices, the Federal
Reserve revises its rules under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection
Act (HOEPA), with the goal of increasing the percentage of subprime
loans covered. By 2005, it would be clear that the new regulations would
end up covering only about 1% of subprime loans.
6.
December 2001
Enron files for bankruptcy. Citigroup, JP Morgan, CIBC, Bank of America
and Lehman later would settle shareholder suits arguing they helped
Enron hide its debt and pressured analysts to write glowing evaluations
of Enron by paying $6.9 billion. Citigroup, JP Morgan, CIBC, Merrill
Lynch and other financial institutions pay $400 million to settle with
the SEC over their role in the Enron matter.
14.
15. 1.
2003
Large numbers of triple-A-rated collateralized debt obligation (CDO)
securities backed by manufactured housing loans default.
2.
2003
Citigroup writes its first liquidity put on a collateralized debt
obligation (CDO); over the next three years it will write $25 billion in
such puts. These agreements will ultimately require the company to bring
these assets onto its balance sheet in 2007.
3.
January 2003
Freddie Mac restates its 2000 and 2001 financial statements and delays
filing 2002 financials. Freddie Mac agrees to pay a $125 million penalty
to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and
correct governance, internal controls, accounting, and risk management
issues. Freddie’s board ousts most top managers, including Chairman and
CEO Leland Brendsel.
4.
November 2003
Timothy Geithner becomes the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.
16. 1.
2004
Goldman Sachs launches its first major synthetic asset-backed security
collateralized debt obligation (ABS CDO), Abacus 2004-1.
2.
January 2004
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency adopts a sweeping
preemption rule applying to all state laws that interfere with national
banks’ lending. Shortly thereafter three large banks (with combined
assets of more than $1 trillion) convert from state charters to national
charters.
3.
April 2004
The Securities and Exchange Commission creates the voluntary
Consolidated Supervised Entities (CSE) program, under which investment
banks could choose to be supervised on a consolidated basis, not just at
their broker/dealer subsidiaries. This allowed them to continue
operating in Europe without being subject to consolidated supervision
abroad.
4.
May 2004
The Federal Reserve fines Citigroup $70 million for lending violations
committed by its subsidiary Associates First Capital, which Citigroup
purchased in 2000.
5.
June 2004
U.S. homeownership rates peak at 69.2% in the second quarter.
6.
September 2004
The FBI warns that mortgage fraud “has the potential to be an epidemic.”
The number of Suspicious Activity Reports related to mortgage fraud
showed a 20-fold increase from 1996 to 2005. Then, from 25,988 in 2005,
the number rose to 37,457 in 2006, 52,862 in 2007, 65,004 in 2008, and
67,507 in 2009.
7.
November 2004
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announces its affordable
housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2005–08: 52% low- and
moderate-income lending by 2005 and 56% low- and moderate-income by
2008, up from 50% in 2004.
8.
December 2004
Fannie Mae ousts CEO Franklin Raines. The ouster follows OFHEO’s
discovery of accounting rule violations. Fannie settled OFHEO and SEC
actions, paying $400 million in penalties.
17. 1.
2005
Nearly one-quarter of all mortgages made in the first half of 2005 are
interest-only loans. During the same year, 68% of option adjustable-rate
mortgages originated by Countrywide and Washington Mutual had low- or
no-documentation requirements.
2.
March 2005
The Federal Reserve bans Citigroup from making any more major
acquisitions until it shows improvement in its governance and legal
compliance.
3.
April 2005
Congress enacts the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection
Act of 2005, expanding the rights of repo lenders to their collateral in
the event of a borrower’s bankruptcy.
4.
April 2005
The Office of Thrift Supervision becomes AIG consolidated regulator.
This allowed AIG to continue operating in Europe without being subject
to consolidated supervision abroad.
5.
June 2005
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) publishes
standardized terms for the first pay-as-you-go credit default swap for
the mortgage-backed securities market, leading to rapid growth in
synthetic (derivatives-based) collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
18. 1.
January 2006
Derivatives dealers release the ABX.HE indices, which act as a sort of
Dow Jones Industrial Average for the nonprime mortgage market, and
become a popular way for betting on the direction of the mortgage
market.
2.
February 2006
Ben Bernanke replaces Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Board.
3.
April 2006
Supervisors raise Citigroup’s rating to “satisfactory” and the Federal
Reserve lifts its ban on new acquisitions by the company.
4.
April 2006
Home prices peak nationally after having risen 152% since 1997.
5.
May 2006
Henry Paulson, then CEO of Goldman Sachs, is nominated by President
Bush to succeed John Snow as Treasury Secretary. He was sworn in on
July 10, 2006.
6.
June 2006
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight in its 2005
examination deems Fannie Mae a “supervisory concern” on the basis of
the issues facing management, noting that “management entered the
‘Alt-A’ [mortgage] market in an effort to increase market share” and
that “credit risk was increasing as a result of this decision.”
7.
September 2006
Bank and thrift regulators issue nonbinding guidance on nontraditional
mortgage products.
8.
September 2006
Congress enacts the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act, giving the
Securities and Exchange Commission limited authority to examine rating
agencies.
9.
October 2006
Wachovia buys Golden West Financial Corp., the thrift that had created
the “Pick-a-Pay” option-adjustable-rate mortgage product.
10.
December 2006
Subprime lenders recognize losses and the ABX indices, a sort of Dow
Jones Industrial Average for the subprime market, start to fall.
19. 1.
February 2007
Subprime lender New Century reports bigger-than-expected mortgage
credit losses and HSBC, the largest subprime lender, announces a $1.8
billion increase in its quarterly provision for losses.
2.
April 2007
Subprime lender New Century files for bankruptcy. It would be followed
later in 2007 by dozens of other subprime lenders, including American
Home Mortgage in August.
3.
May 2007
“We believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the
broader housing market will likely be limited, and we do not expect
significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the
economy or to the financial system,” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says.
4.
June 7th 2007
Bear Stearns Asset Management suspends redemptions in two hedge funds
that invested heavily in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
Despite the influx of capital and loans from their parent, Bear
Stearns, the two funds file for bankruptcy the next month.
5.
June 29th 2007
Bank and thrift regulators issue the Interagency Statement on Subprime
Mortgage Lending to build on their September 2006 guidance. The
statement emphasizes that lenders should verify a borrower’s ability to
repay the loan at the higher rate to which it adjusts, not just at the
lower introductory rate.
6.
July 10th 2007
Moody’s (and a few days later Standard and Poor’s) issues wide-scale
mortgage-backed securities downgrades. Nominal housing prices fall
about 4% nationally from their peak at the beginning of 2006.
7.
July 13th 2007
The Office of Thrift Supervision completes a targeted examination of
AIG’s Financial Products unit and concludes that the unit has
adequately designed its credit and market risk management programs. It
also defers a more in-depth review of AIG Financial Product’s subprime
exposure in the super senior credit default swap portfolio to 2008.”
8.
July 16th 2007
The closely watched ABX.HE indices, meant to act as a sort of Dow Jones
Industrial Average for the nonprime mortgage market, fall to new lows.
One of these indices, which reflects the value of the triple-B-minus
rated tranches of subprime mortgage-backed securities issued in the
second half of 2006, falls to a new low of 45 cents.
9.
July 22nd 2007
Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal learns, at an internal Finance Committee
meeting, that the company had begun a strategy to reduce risk in late
2006 by creating collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), retaining the
super-senior tranches, and selling the subordinate tranches, resulting
in $55 billion in CDO positions as of September.
10.
July 27th 2007
Goldman Sachs demands $1.8 billion from AIG Financial Products to cover
a decline in value of the super senior tranches of collateralized debt
obligations (CDOs) on which AIG Financial Products sold Goldman credit
default swap protection.
11.
July 30th 2007
German banks and their regulator announce the rescue of IKB Deutsche
Industriebank following losses on its $18.9 billion commercial paper
program, which had invested heavily in collateralized debt obligations
(CDOs) and collateralized loan obligations.
12.
August 2007
Structured investment vehicles (SIVs) start to fail as investors run
the asset-backed commercial paper market.
13.
August 1st 2007
Countrywide senior executives first learn, according to CEO Angelo
Mozilo, that the company is unable to sell its commercial paper when it
comes due.
14.
August 9th 2007
Paris-based BNP Paribas, one of the world’s largest banks, announces
its suspension of redemptions from two investment funds due to
difficulties in valuing assets. The European Central Bank pumps €95
billion into the banking market to try to improve liquidity; over the
next few days, it adds another €108.7 billion.
15.
August 15th 2007
Countrywide draws $11.5 billion from backup lines with commercial banks
when it is unable to sell $13 billion of loans or obtain repo or
commercial paper financing.
16.
August 17th 2007
The Federal Reserve cuts the discount rate by 50 basis points, from
6.25% to 5.75%, the first of many such cuts aimed at increasing
liquidity.
17.
August 17th 2007
Countrywide customers crowd southern California bank branches to
withdraw their deposits. One week later, Bank of America announces that
it is making a $2 billion equity investment for a 16% stake in
Countrywide.
18.
August 31st 2007
ACC Capital Holdings announces that it is closing Ameriquest, the
seventh-largest subprime mortgage originator, and is selling its loan
servicing unit (and its loan origination platform) to Citigroup.
19.
September 4th 2007
The rate at which banks lend to each other rises to its highest level
since December 1998.
20.
September 18th 2007
The Federal Reserve makes its first in a long series of federal funds
rate cuts, lowering the benchmark interest rate from 5.25% to 4.75%.
21.
October 1st 2007
Citigroup announces its third-quarter earnings two weeks early and
reports that it has less than $13 billion in subprime exposure.
22.
October 5th 2007
Merrill Lynch warns that it expects to report a 50 cent loss per share
in the third quarter because of “significant negative mark-to-market
adjustments to its positions in two specific asset classes:
collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and subprime mortgages; and
leveraged finance commitments” in the fixed income, currencies, and
commodities business.
23.
October 11th 2007
Moody’s downgrades $33.4 billion of mortgage-backed securities.
24.
October 11th 2007
Credit rating agencies downgrade super-senior tranches of
collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
25.
October 15th 2007
Citigroup reports on an analyst conference call that the firm has under
$13 billion in subprime exposure. However, that same day, Citigroup’s
board learns that the firm’s subprime exposure is $56 billion, nearly
half of its capital.
26.
October 2007
State Street ceases repo lending to Bear Stearns other than on an
overnight basis.
27.
October 2007
Lehman Brothers acquires a major stake in Archstone Smith, a real
estate investment trust, for $5.4 billion.
28.
October 19th 2007
Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgrades more residential mortgage-backed
securities.
29.
October 24th 2007
Merrill Lynch reports a net loss of $2.3 billion for the third quarter
of 2007, and a $7.9 billion write-down across collateralized debt
obligations (CDOs) and U.S. subprime mortgages.
30.
October 26th 2007
Countrywide reports its first quarterly loss in 25 years. CEO Angelo
Mozilo announces that the SEC has opened an inquiry into his sale of
company stock.
31.
October 30th 2007
Merrill Lynch announces the retirement of CEO Stan O’Neal.
32.
November 2nd 2007
The Federal Reserve approves final rules, under the Basel II Accord, to
implement new risk-based capital requirements in the United States for
large, internationally active banking organizations. Banks will have
several years to put systems in place, beginning in 2008.
33.
November 4th 2007
Citigroup reports $55 billion in subprime exposure, says that declines
in the fair value of those exposures were $8 billion to $11 billion
since the end of September, and announces the retirement of CEO Charles
Prince.
34.
November 7th 2007
AIG reports third-quarter financial results. The company discloses that
there have been disagreements with some of its derivatives
counterparties about the “collateral required.” In an earnings call the
next day, CEO Martin Sullivan assures investors that “we have the right
strategy in place” and that “AIG has ample financial resources to
weather continued uncertainty as well as to take advantage of
attractive market opportunities as they emerge.”
35.
November 8th 2007
Bear Stearns announces that it expects to report its first-ever
quarterly loss for the quarter ended November 30.
36.
November 21st 2007
Freddie Mac announces a $2 billion net loss for the third quarter of
2007 and that it has set aside $1.2 billion to cover bad loans.
Following the announcement, shares in Freddie Mac drop 28.7%, and
shares in Fannie Mae drop 24.8%.
37.
December 6th 2007
Fannie Mae announces that it will issue $7 billion in preferred stock
and cut its dividend by 30%.
38.
December 12th 2007
The Federal Reserve creates the Term Auction Facility (TAF) and
international swap lines in response to illiquidity in interbank
lending markets.
39.
December 13th 2007
Citibank announces it will take $49 billion of its seven structured
investment vehicles (SIVs) onto its balance sheet. Citi’s SIVs had
shrunk from $87 billion in August 2007 to $49 billion.
40.
December 20th 2007
Bear Stearns announces a loss of $854 million for the fourth quarter,
reflecting $1.9 billion of mortgage-related write-downs. Bear also
reports a record year for institutional equities, global clearing
services, and private client services.
41.
December 31st 2007
By the end of 2007, national mortgage debt has almost doubled since
2001, and the amount of mortgage debt per household has risen more than
63%.
42.
December 31st 2007
From 2000 to 2007, Moody’s rated nearly 45,000 mortgage related
securities as triple-A. In 2006 alone, Moody’s put its triple-A stamp
of approval on 30 mortgage-related securities every working day.
20. 1.
January 11th 2008
Bank of America announces it will acquire Countrywide, the largest U.S.
mortgage lender, for $4 billion. Countrywide is on the verge of
bankruptcy.
2.
January 15th 2008
Citigroup announces a fourth-quarter loss of nearly $10 billion, due
largely to $18 billion in additional write-downs on mortgage-related
investments.
3.
January 16th 2008
Rating agencies threaten to downgrade Ambac Financial and MBIA, two
major bond insurers with exposure to mortgage securities.
4.
January 17th 2008
Merrill Lynch reports a loss of $9.8 billion for the fourth quarter and
an $8.6 billion loss for the year. During the earnings call, CEO John
Thain acknowledges that trading desks took too much risk related to
collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
5.
January 22nd 2008
The Federal Reserve, worried about the slowing economy and the health
of lenders, cuts the discount rate and the federal funds rate each by
75 basis points to 4% and 3.5%, respectively.
6.
February 8th 2008
Sales of auction rate securities, reported to be a $330 billion market,
begin to fail, causing borrowing costs to spike for those that issue
the securities.
7.
February 11th 2008
AIG discloses that its auditor has concluded that as of December 31,
2007, AIG had a material weakness in its internal controls of financial
reporting and oversight because it had inappropriately lowered the
estimated loss on its credit default swap portfolio from $5.1 billion
to $1.5 billion. Fitch places AIG on negative credit watch: “there is a
heightened probability of a rating change.”
8.
February 13th 2008
Congress enacts the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. The stimulus
includes tax rebates and a measure to lift the limit for the purchase
of mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from $417,000 to as high as
$729,750, a move aimed at freeing up the stalled market for so-called
jumbo loans.
9.
February 27th 2008
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Director James Lockhart
announces the removal of portfolio growth caps for Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, effective March 1, 2008.
10.
February 28th 2008
AIG reports a $5.29 billion net loss for the fourth quarter of 2007 and
substantial drop in net income for the full year. The retirement of
Joseph Cassano, AIGFP’s CEO, is announced the next day on an investor
conference call.
11.
March 4th 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission conducts an on-site inspection
of Bear Stearns’s liquidity and does not identify any significant
issues.
12.
March 5th 2008
Merrill Lynch announces that it will close the mortgage originator
First Franklin.
13.
March 7th 2008
The Federal Reserve announces an increase of $20 billion in Term
Auction facility funds, to $100 billion outstanding, and extends the
facility for six months.
14.
March 11th 2008
<p>The Federal Reserve announces the new Term Securities Lending
Facility, under which it will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury
securities to primary dealers secured for a term of 28 days on a
collateralized basis; the program will be launched at the end of March.
Primary dealers are the securities affiliates of commercial banks and
investment banks that trade with the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York.</p> <p>Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman
Christopher Cox states that the SEC is comfortable with the capital
cushion of the investment banks. Bear has a liquidity pool of more than
$18 billion at the start of the week, but regulators note an increase
in firms reducing their exposure to the company.</p>
15.
March 13th 2008
Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz calls JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and asks
JP Morgan to extend a $30 billion credit line. Dimon refuses. At 7:00
p.m., Bear Stearns senior management informs the SEC that the firm’s
liquidity has fallen to $2 billion and that it will not be able to
operate normally the following day.
16.
March 14th 2008
Moody’s and Fitch downgrade Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns repo lenders
refuse to continue funding the company. Bear Stearns stock falls 47.4%
from the previous day’s closing price.
17.
March 16th 2008
<p>The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announces that it will
establish the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, which “is intended to
improve the ability of primary dealers to provide financing to
participants in securitization markets and promote the orderly
functioning of financial markets more generally.” Primary dealers are
the securities affiliates of commercial banks and investment banks that
trade with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.</p> <p>JP Morgan
announces the purchase of Bear Stearns at $2 a share with Federal
Reserve assistance. On March 24, Maiden Lane I is established by the
Federal Reserve, financing approximately $30 billion of Bear Stearns
assets with a $29 billion secured loan from the Federal Reserve. JP
Morgan will take the first $1 billion of losses on the portfolio.</p>
18.
March 17th 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York put representatives on-site at the four remaining major
investment banks to monitor their financial condition.
19.
March 19th 2008
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) announces it
will lower the capital required by the government-sponsored enterprises
(GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to encourage the GSEs to provide
funding to the mortgage market. The GSEs also announce that they would
“begin the process to raise significant capital.”
20.
April 8th 2008
The International Monetary Fund warns that potential global losses from
the crisis could reach $1 trillion or higher. It says that the effects
are spreading from subprime mortgages to commercial property, consumer
credit, and company debt.
21.
May 8th 2008
<p>AIG reports first-quarter results, with a $7.8 billion net loss. AIG
also discloses that it has paid $9.7 billion in collateral to credit
default swap counterparties over the past two years.</p> <p>Fitch and
Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgrade AIG’s credit ratings. On the next
day, Moody’s places AIG on credit watch.</p>
22.
May 20th 2008
AIG CEO Martin Sullivan announces at an industry conference that AIG
raised approximately $20 billion in capital through the sale of common
stock, equity units, and fixed income securities. Company shares hit an
intraday low not seen since 1998.
23.
June 2nd 2008
Standard and Poor’s (S&P) cuts its ratings of Merrill Lynch, Lehman
Brothers, and Morgan Stanley by one level to A, A, and A+,
respectively.
24.
June 6th 2008
Standard and Poor’s (S&P) lowers ratings on Ambac and MBIA to A and A-,
respectively, from AA and AA-. Both companies are left on negative
watch in anticipation of possible further downgrades.
25.
June 9th 2008
Lehman Brothers preannounces a second-quarter net loss of $2.8 billion.
CEO Fuld states on an earnings call with investors that “our capital
and liquidity positions have never been stronger.” Three days later,
Lehman replaces COO Joseph Gregory and CFO Erin Callan.
26.
June 15th 2008
AIG CEO Martin Sullivan resigns. Robert B. Willumstad replaces
Sullivan, becoming the third CEO in five years.
27.
June 25th 2008
A Federal Reserve Bank of New York liquidity stress test shows that
Lehman would be $15 billion short of cash and that it had only 78% of
liquidity needed in the stressed scenario.
28.
July 11th 2008
IndyMac Bank is seized by federal regulators, costing the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation almost $9 billion, in what was at the
time the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
29.
July 13th 2008
The Federal Reserve Board authorizes the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York to lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the primary credit rate,
also known as the discount rate or overnight window, to “promote the
availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in
financial markets.”
30.
July 14th 2008
The Federal Reserve adopts rules that prohibit unfair or deceptive
mortgage-lending practices under Home Ownership and Equity Protection
Act (HOEPA), including a requirement that borrowers have the ability to
repay loans made to them.
31.
July 22nd 2008
Wachovia reports an $8.9 billion loss for the bank’s second quarter,
the Federal Reserve downgrades Wachovia to a “3,” and requires the
company to enter into a memorandum of understanding to address matters
requiring immediate attention. Even with the downgrade, a rating of 3
indicates that there was only a “remote” threat to the company’s
continued viability.
32.
July 30th 2008
Congress enacts the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, abolishing the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), giving Treasury
the ability to extend secured lines of credit to the
government-sponsored entities, assigning regulation of Fannie and
Freddie to the new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), implementing
programs to assist the housing market, and giving the new FHFA the
power to put the government-sponsored entities into receivership.
33.
August 4th 2008
Wachovia’s chief regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, downgrades the bank’s rating and writes to the Wachovia board
noting that significant deterioration in its residential and commercial
real estate portfolios and continuing market disruption have severely
hurt Wachovia’s present and future earnings.
34.
August 7th 2008
Citigroup, UBS, and Merrill Lynch agree to buy back $36 billion of
auction rate securities. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had
sued or threatened to sue each of them for allegedly fraudulently
promoting these bonds.
35.
August 22nd 2008
In a quarterly notice, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting
Deputy Director Christopher Dickerson informs Fannie Mae CEO Dan Mudd
that the firm was adequately capitalized as of June 30 but notes that
“further deterioration in housing markets leaves us seriously concerned
about the current level of Fannie Mae’s capital.”
36.
September 6th 2008
In separate memos for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Deputy Director Christopher Dickerson
recommends to Director James Lockhart that FHFA be appointed
conservator for the two companies and describes the dire problems they
face.
37.
September 7th 2008
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency
(FHFA) Director James Lockhart announce that the government has placed
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship.
38.
September 9th 2008
AIG CEO Robert Willumstad meets with Federal Reserve Bank of New York
President Timothy Geithner to discuss AIG’s financial condition and to
“discuss ways in which AIG and the Federal Reserve might work together
in the event that a liquidity problem did arise.”\nJP Morgan sends a
team to meet with Lehman regarding “capital raise options”; Korea
Development Bank announces that it has ended its talks with Lehman; and
Lehman’s stock plunges 45%, its largest daily percentage decline.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben
Bernanke, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner,
Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, Securities and Exchange
Commission Chairman Cox and staff participate in a telephone call to
discuss the developments with Lehman Brothers.
39.
September 10th 2008
Lehman releases third-quarter 2008 results, reporting a $3.9 billion
loss.
40.
September 11th 2008
<p>Wachovia CEO Steel and other bank executives meet with
representatives from the Federal Reserve and ask for capital relief and
an exemption from rules that limited holding companies’ use of insured
deposits to meet their liquidity needs. The Federal Reserve did not
accede, believing that Wachovia’s cash position was strong.</p> <hr>
<p>JP Morgan demands another $5 billion in cash collateral from Lehman,
in addition to the $3.6 billion posted earlier in the week, stating in
the written notice that it will “decline to extend credit” the
following day if it does not receive $5 billion cash before the start
of business. Clients contact Lehman to withdraw their funds.</p> <hr>
<p>Federal Reserve and Treasury staff circulate internally a
“liquidation consortium gameplan” with the goal of convening the top
executives of major counterparties of Lehman who would be hurt most by
a Lehman insolvency and thereby provide a forum where these firms could
explore joint funding mechanisms to head off a collapse.</p>
41.
September 12th 2008
<p>After receiving a total of $8.6 billion in cash collateral from
Lehman during the week, JP Morgan sweeps the funds out of the Lehman
accounts on which it had a lien.</p> <hr> <p>The Federal Reserve and
Treasury convene a Friday night meeting of 12 investment bank CEOs,
pushing them to come up with a rescue plan for Lehman and telling them
that the government would not bail out the troubled company. Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson remarks that a sudden and disorderly unwind of
Lehman could have broad adverse effects on the capital markets.</p>
<hr> <p>Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis tells Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson that his company would consider buying Lehman only if the
government would provide assistance. Paulson rejects the proposal.</p>
42.
September 13th 2008
Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain contacts Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to
see if he would be interested in investing in Merrill. Thain later says
that he called Lewis because he was worried that neither the government
nor private sources would rescue Lehman, and that a Lehman bankruptcy
would have catastrophic consequences throughout the industry.
43.
September 14th 2008
<p>Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis contacts Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain
in the afternoon and says that his company would acquire Merrill for
$29 per share, or $50 billion. Thain convenes a board meeting that
evening during which the Merrill board approves the transaction.</p>
<hr> <p>Federal officials tell Lehman to file for bankruptcy.</p> <hr>
<p>The Federal Reserve expands the Primary Dealer Credit Facility
(PDCF) to cover additional illiquid assets. On hearing about the
expanded PDCF, Fuld and other Lehman executives believe that it could
prevent Lehman from filing for bankruptcy. President Bart McDade, CFO
Ian Lowitt, counsel Harvey Miller, and other Lehman executives return
to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) to meet with FRBNY
General Counsel Tom Baxter and his staff, but Baxter tells them that
only Lehman’s broker-dealer can access the expanded window and that
Lehman’s holding company, but not the broker-dealer, should file for
bankruptcy.</p>
44.
September 15th 2008
<p>At 1:45 a.m., Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. files for bankruptcy,
listing more than $600 billion of assets and liabilities with more than
100,000 creditors: it is the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The
Fed gives LBI, the broker-dealer, access to the Primary Dealer Credit
Facility, which Lehman uses three more times ($28 billion on September
15, $19.7 billion on September 16, and $20.4 billion on September 17)
until Barclays steps in to provide financing to LBI. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average declines 504 points.</p> <hr> <p>Standard & Poor’s
(S&P) cuts AIG’s credit rating.</p> <hr> <p>Bank of America and Merrill
Lynch announce that the bank will purchase Merrill in an all-stock
transaction. The deal, together with the Countrywide acquisition, makes
Bank of America the nation’s biggest retail brokerage and banker to
consumers.</p>
45.
September 16th 2008
<p>The Reserve Primary Fund, the oldest money market fund, “breaks the
buck” when its shares fall to 97 cents as a result of write-downs on
Lehman Brothers commercial paper and investor withdrawals. It is only
the second time in the 37-year history of money market funds that the
net asset value of a money market fund has fallen below $1 a share.
Panicked investors withdraw hundreds of billions of dollars from money
market funds. Other funds suffering similar losses are propped up by
their sponsors. The run soon hit money market funds with no Lehman
exposure.</p> <hr> <p>The Federal Reserve Board announces that it has
authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend up to $85
billion to AIG, to be secured by a pledge of the capital stock and
assets of certain of AIG’s subsidiaries. AIG explains, in a press
release, that borrowings under the revolving credit facility are
conditioned on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York being “reasonably
satisfied with, among other things, AIG’s corporate governance.</p>
46.
September 17th 2008
The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 449 points, or 4%; Russia
suspends stock trading after the market falls; and the three-month
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in dollars jumps 19 basis
points, the biggest increase since September 1999.
47.
September 19th 2008
<p>Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson officially unveils the proposed
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which would commit up to $700
billion from the government to buy “toxic” assets from banks. The
program requires approval from Congress.</p> <hr> <p>The Federal
Reserve announces the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual
Fund Liquidity Facility.</p> <hr> <p>The Securities and Exchange
Commission bans short selling on 799 financial stocks.</p>
48.
September 21st 2008
The Federal Reserve approves the applications of Goldman Sachs and
Morgan Stanley to become bank holding companies. The Federal Reserve
Board authorizes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to extend credit
to the U.S. broker-dealer subsidiaries of the two banks against all
types of collateral that may be pledged at the Federal Reserve’s
primary credit facility for depository institutions or at the existing
Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF); the Federal Reserve also makes
these collateral arrangements available to the broker-dealer subsidiary
of Merrill Lynch.
49.
September 25th 2008
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seizes Washington
Mutual, the nation’s largest thrift. The government declines to bail
out WaMu’s senior debt holders. The FDIC subsequently sells the bank’s
assets to JP Morgan.
50.
September 26th 2008
Wachovia experiences a run in wholesale funding markets. Shares of
Wachovia stock fall 27%.
51.
September 28th 2008
Citigroup and Wells Fargo both submit proposals to the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) under which they would acquire Wachovia
with FDIC assistance.
52.
September 29th 2008
<p>The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors
resolves to recommend that the Secretary of the Treasury accept a bid
from Citigroup for Wachovia that requires government assistance under
the systemic risk exception to the 1991 Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA), in order to “mitigate the serious
adverse effect on economic conditions or financial stability that would
be caused by [Wachovia’s] failure.”</p> <hr> <p>During a Wachovia board
meeting held at 6:30 a.m., CEO Robert Steel and Wachovia’s advisers
inform the Wachovia board that the company has two options: either
place Wachovia into bankruptcy and its banking subsidiaries into
receivership or negotiate a transaction with the FDIC and Citigroup.
The board votes to proceed with the transaction with the FDIC and
Citi.</p> <hr> <p>The House of Representatives rejects the $700 billion
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout package. The stock market
falls by a record 777.68 points, or 7%.</p>
53.
September 30th 2008
The IRS issues IRS Notice 2008-83, allowing an acquiring company to
write off the losses of an acquired company immediately, rather than
spreading them over time.
54.
October 1st 2008
The Senate passes an amended version of the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP) proposal.
55.
October 2nd 2008
Wells Fargo Chairman Richard Kovacevich calls Wachovia CEO Robert Steel
to say he will be sending a plan for a merger between Wachovia and
Wells without government assistance that would result in Wachovia’s
shareholders receiving Wells Fargo stock worth approximately $7 per
every share of Wachovia. The Wachovia board approves the transaction.
56.
October 3rd 2008
<p>Early in the morning, Wachovia CEO Robert Steel, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair, and Wachovia General
Counsel Jane Sherburne call Citigroup Chairman Vikram Pandit to inform
him that Wachovia has entered into an agreement with Wells Fargo.</p>
<hr> <p>Congress enacts the Emergency Stabilization Act, providing $700
billion to the Treasury to purchase troubled assets from eligible
financial institutions under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.</p>
57.
October 6th 2008
The Federal Reserve makes an additional $900 billion of short-term
lending available to banks. Stocks tumble around the world. In the
United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls below 10,000 for
the first time in four years.
58.
October 7th 2008
The Federal Reserve announces the Commercial Paper Funding Facility to
unfreeze the commercial paper market.
59.
October 10th 2008
In the worst week in its history, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
drops 22%.
60.
October 14th 2008
<p>Nine banks receive $125 billion from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program, a plan to directly
inject capital into eligible financial institutions, which Treasury
believes will be more effective than the original strategy to buy bad
assets from banks.</p> <hr> <p>The Treasury states that it has approved
recommendations by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the
Federal Reserve to invoke the systemic risk exception under the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act in order to authorize the
FDIC to establish the new Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP),
guaranteeing certain senior debt for FDIC-insured institutions and some
holding companies, and providing deposit insurance to certain
non-interest-bearing deposits.</p>
61.
October 21st 2008
The Federal Reserve announces the creation of the Money Market Investor
Funding Facility to support a private-sector initiative designed to
provide liquidity to money market investors.
62.
November 10th 2008
The terms of the AIG bailout are revised, as the U.S. government
announces that it will provide an aggregate of $150 billion to AIG. AIG
also reports a loss of $24.5 billion for the third quarter.
63.
November 23rd 2008
The Treasury announces its plan to guarantee against default over $300
billion of Citigroup’s riskiest assets and to provide another $20
billion of new capital.
64.
November 24th 2008
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York creates Maiden Lane III; on the
next day, with the help of a $24.3 billion loan from the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, it begins to purchase collateralized debt
obligations (CDOs) from AIG counterparties.
65.
November 25th 2008
The Treasury announces that it will inject up to $200 billion into
several programs aimed at reviving markets for mortgages and other
consumer credit.
66.
December 17th 2008
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis informs the Fed and Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson that he is considering backing out of the Merrill
acquisition. Government officials ultimately agree to provide an
additional $20 billion equity investment from the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP) and protection for $118 billion in assets.
67.
December 19th 2008
The United States pledges $17.4 billion in loans to assist General
Motors and Chrysler.
68.
December 29th 2008
The Treasury injects $5 billion from the financial bailout fund into
GMAC, which is on the verge of collapse; General Motors invests another
$1 billion. GMAC becomes a bank holding company, thereby lowering its
borrowing costs.
21.
22.
NEWSROOM
1. FCIC Releases Additional Material and Concludes Work
02/10/2010 | Press Release
2. FCIC Releases Report on the Causes of the Financial Crisis
01/27/2011 | Press Release
Video | Transcript
3. See All
CONCLUSIONS
The Commission concluded that this crisis was avoidable—the result of human
actions, inactions, and misjudgments. Warnings were ignored. “The greatest
tragedy would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming
and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen
again.”
View Conclusions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
View Dissents
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