Barclays ends its bid to purchase all or part of Lehman, and a deal to rescue the bank collapses (it turned out that the deal was agreed to, but was then vetoed by the Bank of England and the UK’s Financial Services Authority).

Unable to be saved, the next day Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy–the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (over US$600 billion in assets). Also on September 15, 2008, Bank of America announces plan to buy Merrill Lynch & Co for $50 billion.