By some accounts, it started 10 years ago to the day.
On Aug. 9 2007, a French bank froze three funds exposed to U.S. subprime mortgages, setting in motion a chain of events that would culminate in the collapse of the housing bubble, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and a financial system teetering on the brink.
Others pin the beginning of the global financial crisis on earlier events. A little more than six weeks before BNP Paribas SA shuttered its funds, Bear Stearns extended $3.2 billion in secured loans to bail out one of its hedge funds, portending the ripple of credit writedowns to come. For others, troubles began brewing much earlier – when a global glut in savings and years of low interest rates forced investors to lever up and grab exotic securities in a quixotic quest for yield that would ultimately set off a spiral of financial losses.
