TIMELINE: JANUARY 11TH: Bank of America pays $4 billion in stock for Countrywide Financial after the mortgage lender is the first of many such US operations to go bust on the back of exposure to the subprime sector.
FEBRUARY 17TH: Britain's Northern Rock is placed under public ownership in 2008 after efforts to agree private sector rescue fail.
MARCH 17TH: US investment bank Bear Stearns narrowly escapes bankruptcy and is sold to JP Morgan for $236m. Days earlier it had been valued at $3.5 bn.
APRIL 22ND: Royal Bank of Scotland, parent of Ulster Bank and First Active, announces largest fundraising in British corporate history - £12 billion.
MAY 6TH:UBS announces plans to cut 5,500 jobs by the middle of 2009.
JULY 11TH: Indymac Bank is placed into receivership, becoming the fourth largest bank failure in US history.
JULY 13TH: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are effectively nationalised with the US government extends a credit line for each lender of $2.25 billion.
SEPTEMBER 7TH: Fed takes over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
SEPTEMBER 10TH: Iseq index falls almost 3.5 per cent and closes below 4,500.
SEPTEMBER 14th: Investment bank Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection. Rival Merrill Lynch agrees to be taken over by Bank of America in a Federal Reserve orchestrated firesale.
SEPTEMBER 15th: Insurer American International Group (AIG), says it is struggling for survival.
SEPTEMBER 16th: The US Federal Reserve Board organises $85 billion to AIG, which has lost 92 per cent of its value this year in return for an 80 per cent stake, in a plan aimed at saving the company from a "disorderly failure". Barlays buys part of Lehman's North American operations for $1.75 billion.
SEPTEMBER 17th: British bank Lloyds TSB agrees to buy rival HBOS plc in an all-share deal which values HBOS at over £12 billion ($22.3bn).
SEPTEMBER 18th: The Financial Regulator introduces a temporary ban on short-selling Irish financial stocks. The UK Financial Services Authority imposes a temporary ban on short-selling.
SEPTEMBER 19th: US treasury secretary Henry Paulson unveils financial rescue plan calling for the US government to spend hundreds of billions to take toxic mortgage assets off the books of financial firms.
SEPTEMBER 20th: The Government increases the threshold for deposit protection insurance from €20,000 to €100,000. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan (far left) says: "The Government is confident about the strength and resilience of the Irish financial system."
The Bush administration asks Congress for $700 billion to bail out firms burdened with bad mortgage debt, seeking extraordinary authority.
Henry Paulson (left) will have sweeping powers over the funds.
A US bankruptcy judge approves a revised version of British bank Barclays plc's purchase of the core US business of Lehman worth about $1.75 billion.
SEPTEMBER 21st: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are granted approval to become bank holding companies regulated by the Fed, effectively killing off the investment banking model.
SEPTEMBER 22nd: Nomura Holdings Inc says it will buy Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific. It also acquires Lehman's business in Europe.
SEPTEMBER 23rd: Henry Paulson tells lawmakers a bailout is "embarrassing" .
SEPTEMBER 24th: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway says it will buy up to 9 per cent of Goldman, which also announced plans to sell $2.5 billion in common stock.
SEPTEMBER 25th: Washington Mutual is closed by the US government, in by far the largest failure of a US bank. Banking assets are sold to JP Morgan Chase for $1.9bn.
SEPTEMBER 28th: Congressional leaders say they have a tentative agreement on the $700 billion fund.
SEPTEMBER 29th: Iseq index tumbles 13 per cent, its largest fall since 1983, with Anglo Irish Bank shares shedding 46 per cent of their value.
Citigroup acquires Wachovia's banking operations. Britain announces the nationalisation of mortgage lender Bradford Bingley.
US House of Representatives rejects $700 billion bank rescue bill.
SEPTEMBER 30th:Irish Government announces that it is to guarantee the loans and deposits of €400 billion at six Irish-owned banks and building societies.
OCTOBER 1ST:US Senate passes revised $700bn bailout plan.
OCTOBER 2ND: Oireachtas passes Bill guaranteeing Irish bank deposits and debts.
OCTOBER 3RD: US President George W Bush (right) signs Emergency Economics Stabilization Act, creating $700 Troubled Assets Relief Program (Tarp) into law.
Wells Fargo swoops for Wachovia trumping existing Citigroup offer.
OCTOBER 7TH: Icelandic government takes control of Lansbanki, parent of Merrion stockbrokers.
OCTOBER 8TH: British government announces £50bn rescue package for banks.
OCTOBER 13TH: UK announces plans to pump money into Lloyds TSB, HBOS and RBS.
OCTOBER 14TH: US decides to inject $250m in banks, taking equity positions, rather than buying up distressed assets.
NOVEMBER 15TH: G20 meeting organised by French premier Nikolas Sarkozy convenes in Washington. Agrees principles for recovery but no detailed proposals.
NOVEMBER 24TH: US government rescues Citigroup after stock prices slides 60 per cent in a week
DECEMBER 14TH: Minister for Finance announces plans to invest up to €10 billion to recapitalise the Irish banks in association with private equity and existing shareholders, using money from the National Pension Reserve Fund
DECEMBER: 18TH: Anglo Irish bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick (far left) resigns after details of "inappropriate" management of €87m in loans emerges. Non-executive director Lar Bradshaw also steps down after his name emerges in connection with one of the loans.
DECEMBER 19TH: Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm resigns in wake of FitzPatrick loan debacle.
DECEMBER 21ST: Government unveils plans to inject up to €7.5 billion into Anglo Irish Bank, AIb and Bank of Ireland in effort to recapitalise them
