The collapse of the Wall Street giant—Lehman Brothers—is a big blow to the US as well as world economies. The behemoth, which was in a swing with $47 bn market cap a year ago, collapsed because of the denial of aid by the Fed Reserve. Certainly, the tumbling highlights the industry's unwillingness and inability to save the sick from the crisis.

Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in the US, shook the Wall Street by announcing its bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. It was an unexpected declaration by the US investment giant. Even the US Fed failed to soften the blow. In a statement, the firm announced that it had filed for bankruptcy `in order to protect its assets and maximize values'. Though the expectations were high that a deal would be made, with or without the help from the government, to help the bank to come out of the crisis, in the end nothing really happened and the giant had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that will allow the 158-year-old firm to reorganize and devise a plan to pay creditors over time. However, it said that its Neuberger Berman holdings (broker dealer division and asset management division) will not be filed for bankruptcy.

One of the biggest Wall Street firms, Lehman Brothers, in its 3^rd fiscal quarter lost around $3.9 bn amid fresh write-downs on mortgage assets. The firm has more than $ 613 bn of debt. The collapse of the bank is considered as the worst financial crisis in atleast five decades. In a joint statement, Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, said they "initiated a series of actions to help enhance liquidity and mitigate the unprecedented volatility and other challenges affecting global equity and debt markets."

Lehman Brothers, Bankruptcy, Bank of America, US Investment, Credit Default Swap, CDS, Korea Development Bank, American International Group, AIG, American Enterprise Institute , JPMorgan Chase.