Number: RL34420
Title: Bear Stearns: Crisis and "Rescue" for a Major Provider of Mortgage-Related Products
Authors: Gary Shorter, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: In March 2008, Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment banking firm, was battered by what its officials described as a sudden liquidity squeeze related to its large exposure to devalued mortgage-backed securities. On March 14, the Federal Reserve System announced that it would provide Bear Stearns with an unprecedented short-term loan. This was rendered essentially moot when, on March 16, a major commercial bank, JP Morgan Chase, agreed to buy Bear Stearns in an exchange of stock shares for about 1.5% of its share price of a year earlier, a price that translated to $2/share. To help facilitate the deal, the Federal Reserve agreed to provide special financing in connection with the transaction for up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns's less liquid assets.
Pages: 11
Date: April 9, 2008