WaMu Fails - Seized by Fed and Sold to JPMorgan Chase

In the largest bank failure in U.S. History, Washington Mutual crumbled last night, and was seized by federal regulators.

Under a deal brokered by the government, JPMorgan Chase [[JPM]] will acquire all the banking operations of WaMu, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.

WaMu’s assets were equal to about two-thirds of the book value of assets from almost 750 failed banks that were sold off during the previous S&L crisis that lasted from 1989 through 1995.

The acquisition of WaMu is JPMorgan Chase’s second major purchase this year. The first, of course, was its March acquisition of failed investment bank Bear Stearns, a deal that was also assembled by the government.