Bear Stearns‍‌‌‌​‍‌‍‌‌​‍​‍‌‌​​‍‌​

→ Entity #159

crisis_beneficiary confirmed

Bear Stearns' collapse created the Maiden Lane LLC that made BlackRock the Fed's trusted crisis manager. The $30 billion in toxic Bear Stearns assets that BlackRock managed via Maiden Lane enhanced the firm's worldwide credibility and led to all subsequent government advisory contracts.

→ Entity #8822

policy_enabler secondary

Rubin's championing of Glass-Steagall repeal and derivatives deregulation created the regulatory environment in which Bear Stearns could leverage toxic mortgage-backed securities. Bear Stearns' collapse was a direct consequence of the deregulated environment Rubin created.

← Entity #8819

policy_enabler likely

Bear Stearns collapsed in March 2008 due to excessive leverage and exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities — financial instruments enabled by Clinton's Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Commodity Futures Modernization Act. Bear Stearns was also Jeffrey Epstein's first employer on Wall Street.

← Entity #8

employed_by secondary

Epstein worked at Bear Stearns from 1976 to 1981, rising to limited partner. He was hired without a college degree. The specific circumstances of his departure have never been publicly explained by Bear Stearns, JPMorgan, or any successor entity.

← Entity #150

acquired_by primary

JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns in May 2008 for $10/share following the FRBNY-brokered rescue. The FRBNY absorbed $30 billion in toxic Bear Stearns assets into Maiden Lane I as a condition of the acquisition.

← Entity #25

contractor primary

BlackRock Financial Management was engaged without competitive bidding by the FRBNY to value and manage the Maiden Lane I portfolio of Bear Stearns toxic assets — the contract that established BlackRock as the government's preferred crisis asset manager.

← Entity #614

rescued_by primary

The FRBNY provided the $28.82 billion Maiden Lane I loan and brokered the JPMorgan acquisition. This was the first time the Fed had extended emergency credit to facilitate the rescue of a non-bank financial institution.

← Entity #157

employee primary

Cioffi was the Bear Stearns hedge fund manager who ran the two collapsed funds. He was charged with securities fraud by the SEC in 2008 and acquitted in 2009.

← Entity #158

employee primary

Tannin was the co-manager of the Bear Stearns hedge funds. Like Cioffi, he was charged with and acquitted of securities fraud.

← Entity #152

ceo primary

Schwartz became Bear Stearns CEO in January 2008, just weeks before its collapse. He testified before the Senate Banking Committee in April 2008 attributing the failure to a confidence crisis rather than insolvency.