WaMu forced into acquisition by J.P. Morgan

Posted Sep 25th 2008 9:51PM by Sarah Gilbert
Filed under: Deals, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Washington Mutual (WM), Financial Crisis

In an enormous and startling turn of events, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has taken over Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM), forcing it into an arranged marriage. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, the FDIC reached out to the nation's biggest banks, asking them to make an offer. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) was the one to step up to the plate, taking over the bank's deposits and branches. The value of the deal, and the fate of the bad assets, isn't currently known; but equityholders and senior debt holders will be wiped out.

Depositors leery of the bank's failure were part of the problem; $16.7 billion in deposits have been taken out of the bank since September 15. According to the WSJ, the FDIC fund won't be affected by the takeover.

Tags: arranged marriage, ArrangedMarriage, bailout, fdic, inthenews, jpm, merger, wamu, washington mutual, WashingtonMutual

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-26-2008 @ 12:23AM

Frank Miller said...

This is unfortunate, but it should serve as a wake up call to all American investors. If you want to protect your money, you need to diversify and invest at least some of it overseas. These are hard times for American investing firms. I personally use offshore bank accounts and they have helped me with diversification and asset protection. If you want to read more on why offshore investing is smarter, feel free to visit my website.

Best,
Frank Miller
http://www.theoffshorebankaccount.com

9-26-2008 @ 3:13AM

larry rinehart said...

How can the WAMU board possibly justify paying Kellenger $22 million after he was fired two weeks ago and now has cost his employees and shareholders everything? Think of the teller who has been there for 20 years now not having a retirement. Maybe he or she can spend a weekend at Kellenger's mansion.

9-26-2008 @ 8:24AM

Ron Caraway said...

Kellenger should not get a dime! The WAMU board is giving themselves money at the expense of the shareholders and the creditors. Why is the securities and exchange commission doing NOTHING about this and the other executives of the failed finacials that are reaping huge amounts of money after leading their companies into ruin?

9-28-2008 @ 2:01PM

Richard Burkhart said...

Let's call it what it is, CRIMINAL and demand that SEC go after these CRIMINALS, Fine them, and put them in prison. Most of the problem is the GREED and SELFISHNESS of the leadership of these companies. It's long past time to hold them ACCOUNTABLE.