Washington Mutual

About Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual filed for bankruptcy on September 26, 2008, the largest bank failure in US history. WaMu had 307 billion in assets and 2,239 branches. The FDIC seized WaMu and sold its banking operations to JPMorgan Chase for 1.9 billion. WaMu had collapsed due to heavy exposure to subprime mortgages and option ARM loans. The bank lost 16.7 billion in deposits in a 10 day bank run. The holding company filed for Chapter 11 with approximately 33 billion in assets. The FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund lost nothing because JPMorgan acquired all deposits. The bankruptcy estate eventually recovered approximately 7 billion for creditors. WaMu shareholders were wiped out. The failure demonstrated the vulnerability of thrift institutions to mortgage losses.