Founded in 1923, The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. grew to become one of the largest and most prominent investment banks in the world. Headquartered in New York City, it was a significant player in asset-backed securities, particularly mortgage-backed securities. The firm's high leverage and massive exposure to the subprime mortgage market led to a crisis of confidence and a severe liquidity crunch in March 2008. To prevent a wider systemic financial collapse, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York facilitated its emergency sale to JPMorgan Chase for a fraction of its former value, marking one of the most pivotal events of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Founded in

United States