Below we provide a timeline of events that have impacted and shaped our investment market over the last 15 months.

July 2007
18 July 2007 - Bear Stearns
Investment bank Bear Stearns informed investors that they were halting redemptions in two of their hedge funds and investors would receive very little, if any, of the money invested in these funds.

August 2007
August saw the world-wide ‘credit-crunch’ evolve, as subprime mortgage backed securities were discovered in portfolios of banks and hedge funds around the world from Bank of China to BNP Paribus. Intervention from the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank
of China and the Bank of Japan began.

8 August – RBRBA increases cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 25bp to 6.5 percent.

9 August – BNP Paribus
BNP Paribus informed investors they would not be able to take money out of two of its funds because they could not value the assets in them.

10 August – European Central Bank injects cash.
The European Central Bank injects 95bn Euros into the banking market to help improve liquidity.

17 August – US Fed cuts discount rate
The US Federal Reserve cut the discount rate (the rate at which it lends to banks) by 50bp, warning that that credit crunch could be a risk to economic growth.

September 2007
18 September - US Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve follows their cut in the discount rate with a 50bp cut in the federal funds rate in an attempt to limit the damage to the economy from the housing credit crisis.

19 September - Bank of England
Having previously refused to inject any funding into the market, the Bank of England announces that it will auction £10bn.

October 2007
1 October – UBS and Citigroup
Swiss Bank UBS is the first of the major investment banks to announce losses of $3.4bn from sub-prime related investments, resulting in the chairman and chief executive stepping down.

Later Citigroup unveils losses of $3.1bn and a fortnight later they are forced to write down a further $5.9bn. Within the next six months they state losses of $US40bn.

30 October – Merrill Lynch boss resigns
Merrill Lynch chief, Stan O’Neal, resigns after the investment bank reveals a $US7.9bn exposure to bad debt.

November 2007
1 November - US Fed injects cash
The US Federal Reserve injects $US41bn into money supply for banks to borrow at a low rate; the largest single expansion since $US50.38bn
on 19 September 2001.

November 7 - RBRBA increases cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia increases the cash rate by 25bp to 6.75% percent.

6 December – President Bush announces plan
US President George W Bush announces a plan to help more than one million homeowners facing foreclosure.
The Bank of England cuts interest rates by 25bp to 5.50 percent.

17 December – Central Banks provide further funding
The US Federal Reserve auctions $US20bn and the Central European Bank, the following day, auctions $500bn to help commercial banks over the Christmas period.

January 2008
21 January – Global Stock markets experience their biggest falls since 11 September 2001.

22 January – US Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve cuts their interest rate by 75bp to 3.50 percent to try and prevent the economy falling into recession.

30 January – US Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve cuts their interest rate by 50bp to 3.00 percent.

February 2008
6 February – RBRBA increases cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia increases the cash rate by 25bp to 7.00 percent.

8 February – Bank of England cuts rates
The Bank of England cuts interest rates by 25bp to 5.25 percent.

March 2008
5 March – RBRBA increases cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia increases the cash rate by 25bp to 7.25 percent.

7 March – US Fed injects cash
The US Federal Reserve makes $US200bn of funds available to banks and other institutions in their biggest intervention yet to try and improve liquidity.

17 March – Bear Stearns
Bear Stearns, the fifth largest bank in the US, is acquired by rival JP Morgan Chase for $US240m. A year earlier the bank had been worth $US18bn. US Government is criticised for underwriting the deal.

18 March – US Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve cuts their interest rate by 75bp to 2.25 percent.

April 2008
8 April – International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The IMF, which oversees the global economy, warns that the potential losses from the credit crunch could total more than $1 trillion.

10 April – Bank of England cuts rates
The Bank of England cuts interest rates by 25bp to 5.00 percent.

30 April – US Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve cuts their interest rate by 25bp to 2.00 percent.

July 2008
13 July – Indy Mac
US mortgage lender Indy Mac collapses, the second biggest bank to fail in US history.

14 July – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Following panic in the previous week that America’s two largest lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may collapse, financial authorities step in to assist.

September 2008
3 September – RBRBA cuts cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia cuts the cash rate by 25bp to 7.00 percent from its 12 year high of 7.25 percent. It is the first rate cut in more
than six years.

7 September – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are rescued by the US Government in one of the largest bailouts in US history.

15 September – Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch
Having posted a three month loss to August of $US3.9.bn, the Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection becoming the first major investment bank to collapse since the start of the credit crisis.
Merrill Lynch agrees to be taken over by the Bank of America for $US50bn.

17 September – AIG
To avoid collapse and the potential cataclysmic effect on global markets, the US Government announces a $US85bn emergency loan to AIG, once the world’s largest insurance companies.
 
19 September – US bail-out plan
US Government announces a $US700bn bail-out package (subject to Congressional approval) aimed to restore stability in the ailing US financial system.

29 September - US bail out plan rejected
US congress rejected the $US700 bail-out package sparking a major sell off in global financial markets.

October 2008
2 October - Revised bail-out plan
US Senate approve a revised $US700 rescue package.

3 October – Revised bail-out plan approved
US congress pass the revised rescue package; however, it fails to calm global markets as fears grow over US recession and the biggest loss
of jobs in five years.

7 October – RBRBA cuts cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia cuts the cash rate by 100bp to 6.00 percent - the biggest cut since 1992.