JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. came to the rescue of Washington Mutual Inc. Thursday, buying the thrift's banking assets after WaMu was seized by federal regulators in the largest failure ever of a U.S. bank. A seizure of WaMu has been widely anticipated for some time because of the company's heavy mortgage-related losses. It has seen its stock price plummet 95 percent from a 52-week high of $36.47 to its close of $1.69 Thursday, and on Wednesday, it suffered a ratings downgrade by Standard & Poor's that put it in danger of collapse.
WaMu "was under severe liquidity pressure," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair told reporters in a conference call.
"For all depositors and other customers of Washington Mutual Bank, this is simply a combination of two banks," Bair said in a statement. "For bank customers, it will be a seamless transition. There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning."
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