Banking crisis: story so far

Compiled by John Collins

MAR 17th:Bear Stearns narrowly escapes bankruptcy and is sold to JP Morgan for $236 million. Days earlier it had been valued at $3.5 billion.

JULY 13th:Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are effectively nationalised w hen the US government extends a credit line for each lender of $2.25 billion.

SEPT 10th:Iseq index falls almost 3.5 per cent and closes below 4,500.

SEPT 14/15th:Investment bank Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy; Merrill Lynch acquired by Bank of America in a Federal Reserve orchestrated fire-sale.

SEPT 16th:The Fed lends $85 billion to American International Group (AIG) in return for an 80 per cent stake in the insurer; Barclays buys parts of Lehmans North American assets for $1.75 billion.

SEPT 17th:Lloyds TSB agrees to rescue rival Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), scooping up Britains biggest home loan lender in an all-share deal.

SEPT 18th:The Financial Regulator imposes a ban on short-selling stocks of Ireland's four publicly-quoted banks, following similar moves in other countries.

SEPT 19th:US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (left) calls for the government to spend $700 billion buying "toxic" mortgage assets off financial companies to restore financial stability. News of the plan helps world stock markets soar.

SEPT 21st:Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley become bank holding companies regulated by the Fed, effectively ending the investment backing model that was the epitome of Wall Street in the 1990s.

SEPT 22nd:Japan's Nomura Holdings says it will buy Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific and acquire Lehman's business in Europe. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial agrees to buy up to 20 per cent of Morgan Stanley for $8.5 billion (€6.2 billion). Iseq index closes below 4,000.

SEPT 24th:Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway says it will acquire up to 9 per cent of Goldman, which also announced plans to sell $2.5 billion in common stock. The FBI says it is expanding its investigation of possible corporate fraud related to the US mortgage market collapse.

SEPT 25th:Washington Mutual is closed by the US government in the largest failure of a US bank. Its banking assets are sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion.

SEPT 29th:Ireland's Iseq index falls 13 per cent, its biggest drop since January 1983 with Anglo Irish Bank shares losing 46 per cent of their value.

Britain announces the nationalisation of mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley.

Banking and insurance company Fortis NV is bailed out by Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments. US House of Representatives rejects the $700 billion rescue plan.

SEPT 30th:Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announces that the State will guarantee deposits and debts of €400 billion at six Irish banks. European regulators endorse a €6.4 billion public bailout of Dexia, the Belgian-French financial services group.

OCT 1st:US Senate passes the bailout plan.

OCT 2nd:The Oireachtas passes the Bill guaranteeing Irish bank deposits and debts.

OCT 3rd:The US House of Representatives passes a revised bailout plan. The Dutch government buys Fortis for €16.8 billion. Belgium and Luxembourg scramble the next day to find a buyer for the remainder of the company.

OCT 4th:European leaders (left), meeting in Paris, commit to ensuring the stability of banking and financial systems.

OCT 5th:Germany pledges to guarantee private deposit accounts. Germany also clinches a revised rescue deal for lender Hypo Real Estate after banks and insurers pulled out of a state-led €35 billion rescue programme.

OCT 6th:France's BNP Paribas scoops up the assets of Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg for €14.5 billion to stem a cash drain on Fortis and Dexia.

OCT 7th:Iceland, facing down a threat of "national bankruptcy", takes over Landsbanki, its second-largest bank and props up its battered currency. Iceland seeks a €4 billion loan from Russia which unveils an aid package for its own banks.

OCT 8th:The Fed leads a co-ordinated, global round of emergency interest rate cuts. China, the European Central Bank (ECB) and central banks in Britain, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland also cut rates. Britain offers to pump at least £50 billion into its biggest retail banks to help them survive.