A Short Summary:

• Banking crisis has transformed the world's financial landscape
  
• Many established names bankrupted or bailed out as a consequence of bad debts
  
• More banks in danger following U.S. failure to pass $700 billion bailout plan

The credit crisis has transformed the global financial landscape, bankrupting established names and prompting unprecedented interventions by governments and central banks to save others from collapse as they buckle under the weight of "toxic debts." This timeline charts the key moments in that process between Feb 2007 - Sep 30, 2008.

Feb. 7, 2007: HSBC announces losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgages

May 17: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said growing number of mortgage defaults will not seriously harm the U.S. economy.

June: Two Bear Stearns-run hedge funds with large holdings of subprime mortgages run into large losses and are forced to dump assets. The trouble spreads to major Wall Street firms such as Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs which had loaned the firms money.

Aug.: French bank BNP Paribas freezes withdrawals in three investment funds.

Sept.: Crisis-hit UK bank Northern Rock admits financial difficulties as it asks Bank of England for assistance. Share prices fall as customers queue up to withdraw their money.

Oct. 1: Swiss bank UBS announces losses liked to U.S. subprime mortgages

Oct. 5: Investment bank Merrill Lynch reports losses of $5.5 billion

Oct. 15: Cititgroup announces $6.5 billion third quarter losses

Oct. 24: Merrill Lynch announces losses to be over $8 billion

Jan., 2008: Swiss bank UBS announces fourth quarter losses at $14 billion.

Jan. 11: Bank of America pays $4 billion for Countryside Financial.

Jan. 15: Citigroup reports $18.1 billion loss in fourth quarter

Jan. 17: Merrill Lynch reports $11.5 billion loss in fourth quarter. Washington Mutual posts losses

Feb. 13: U.K. bank Northern Rock is nationalized.

March: UK hedge fund Peloton Partners and U.S. fund Carlyle Capital fail

March 16: Bear Stearns, the U.S.'s fifth largest investment bank collapses and is taken over by JP Morgan.

April 1: German Deutsche Bank credit losses of $3.9 billion in first quarter.

April 13: U.S. bank Wachovia Corp. reports big loss for quarter.

May 12: HSBC writes off $3.2 billion in the first quarter linked to exposure to the U.S. subprime market.

July 22: WaMu reports $3.3 billion loss for second quarter.

Aug. 31: German Commerzbank AG takes over Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank.

Sept 7: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effectively nationalized by the U.S. Treasury which places them into "conservatorship."

Sept. 9: Lehman Brothers shares plummet to lowest level on Wall Street in more than a decade.

Sept 14: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. Stock markets plummet; Central banks inject billions of dollars into money markets. Bank of America agrees to buy Merrill Lynch.

Sept. 16: AIG Corp, the world's biggest insurer bailed out by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Morgan Stanley and Wachovia enter merger talks.

Sept. 17: Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) merges with UK bank Lloyds TSB in an emergency rescue plan representing one-third of the UK's savings and mortgage market.

Sept. 18: Fed and other central banks inject billions into global markets to help ease the crunch.

Sept. 22: Japan's Nomura Holdings buys Lehman's Asian operations for up to $525 million.

Sept. 25: WaMu sold to JP Morgan.

Sept. 27: HSBC announces 1,100 job cuts worldwide.

Sept. 29: UK's Bradford & Bingley nationalized. Spanish banking giant Santander to buy deposits for $38.2 billion. U.S. House of Representatives rejects a $700 billion plan to bail out the U.S. financial system. German bank Hypo Real Estate is bailed out by a consortium of banks. Citigroup, the world's largest bank, buys Wachovia. Irish government moves to safeguard all bonds, debts and deposits for two years in six banks and building societies. Belgian insurance giant Fortis is bailed out by the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Iceland's third largest bank Glitnir nationalized.

Sept 30: Belgian bank Dexia bailed out by France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Swiss bank UBS expected to annouce losses before Oct. 2 shareholder meeting.

Courtesy: /world business