(Finance) – It’s the September 15, 2008it’s around 5 in the morning when Lehman Brothers, fourth largest investment bank in the United States, seeks admission tol Chapter 11 of the code US bankruptcydeclaring the default.
Causing the collapse of the US bankfounded way back in 1850, the subprime mortgage crisisi.e. loans granted in the real estate market to people who would not have been able to access them under normal conditions because they had fewer guarantees of solvency. A failure that triggered a frightening domino effect causing stock market crashes in much of the world, including Europe.
STOCK MARKETS COLLAPSE, SCARY DOMINO EFFECT – The Dow Jones lost more than 504 points, recording the highest drop since 1September 7, 2001first day of trade after the attack on Twin towers. In a single session, the stock markets of the Old Continent burned over 120 billion euros of capitalization. The Lehman effect also affects the currency markets, with the euro rocketing above 1.44 dollars and then slowing down, returning to around 1.42 at the end, while oil collapses below 100 dollars, with Light crude below 96 and Brent below 93.
Today, 15 years have passed since the crash which became the emblem of a global crisis, not yet overcome. According to most analysts, in fact, we are talking about more major failure in the history of the United Statesyou, an event which changed the characteristics of the world economy, the weight of which, years later, is still felt due to the so-called ‘Lehman effect’ cwhich has (dis)overwhelmed the United States, triggering a frightening global economic recession.
25 thousand people were fired. It is certainly one of the moments with the greatest emotional impact what was renamed the long one “procession” of traders and financial operators with boxes in hand.
TOO BIG TO FAIL – To repay the creditors, all the bank’s assets were auctioned off, including the Too big to fail sign. The nightmare has recently been brought back into the spotlight in recent months by the ‘bailout’ of Credit Suisse and the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, which have rekindled fears of a new shock to the system with unpredictable consequences. Fears which, however, turned out to be unfounded: the problems of Svb, Signature Bank and First Republic have not infected the banking industry which, thanks to the rules passed in 2008 and 2009, is more solid and better capitalized.