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Bear Stearns was an investment bank based in New York city. It collapsed during the sub prime crisis of 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was founded in 1923 and survived the stock market crash of 1929<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was one of the world\u2019s largest investment banks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it had a market capitalisation of $20 billion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It operated a wide range of financial services including hedge funds which used collateralised debt obligations to leverage profit<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was thus heavily exposed when the housing market collapsed in April 2007<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bear Stearns hedge funds posted massive losses and write-downs. The firm had illiquid assets in a falling market .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March 2008 the company went to the Federal reserve for a credit guarantee but another downgrade hit the firm and a bank run started. This was the end<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bear Stearns was sold to JP Morgan Chase who were lent the money by the Fed. JP Morgan then paid several billions to close the falling trades and settle litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source<\/p>\n\n\n\n