With all the news recently about the global financial crisis, some of you may be wondering, what happens when a bank fails? I mean, not all of us are lucky enough to be in towns with failing banks so that we can witness it with our own eyes. Fortunately, I live in New York and the banks here are dropping like flies, so I can give you an update.
If you're JP Morgan Chase and you've bought Washington Mutual, you haven't done too much. There's a branch in my building at work and there's nary a sign that it's now part of JPM. Similarly, their website doesn't really mention it either.
On the other hand, if you bought an investment bank that collapsed in ignominy, it's a different story. Barclays is making sure that there are no doubts that there's no more Lehman Brothers and it's now Barclays:
For those of you who don't live in the City of Disappearing Financial Institutions a.k.a. New York, you may be wondering what happens when, say, Washington Mutual or Lehman Brothers go bankrupt and get bought