Federal Regulators seized Washington Mutual late Thursday, and was purchased by JP Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion.
With over $900 billion in deposits, Washington Mutual was the nations largest thrift, and is the largest bank failure in U.S. history. WaMu’s significant sub-prime exposure led to its downfall, as it had trouble raising the capital to meet customer withdrawals, according to regulators.
The bank, they said, will be open for business as usual on Friday. The acquisition by better-capitalized JP Morgan, is likely to prevent a run on the bank, but JP Morgan did announce that it will likely sell equity to raise working capital.
JP Morgan has become a leader in the financial merger during crisis time, acquiring Bear Stearns and now Washington Mutual.