meltdown

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008 -- the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, with over $600 billion in assets in its portfolio.

The collapse of Lehman was attributed to its deep investments in subprime and other lower-rated mortgages and related securities.

Bank of America is the biggest bank in America and one of the ten largest banks in the world. BofA has been the target of much recent criticism for its extensive involvement in the subprime lending markets that precipitated the current recession and for a shotgun merger with Merrill Lynch that critics say damaged the bank's share value.