Medic! Casualty!

To all Singaporean guys who have donned the No. 4 (it is actually the name of the combat uniform for Singapore Army) at some stage of their national service lives, this phrase should be rather familiar, especially whenever someone wants to keng (fake in local dialect). After all, any ongoing activity is likely to be disrupted temporarily so the medic (like Yours Truly Medic Tang) can attend to the casualty.

On the other hand, the recent credit crisis has also claimed many "lives". Banks who were once regarded as formidable world class financial institutions began falling like flies.. BIG FAT HAIRY FLIES. As at 1 October 2008, the casualties are:

Company failures (i.e the dead flies)

• New Century Financial Corporation, US
• American Freedom Mortgage, US
• American Home Mortgage, US
• Lehman Brothers, US
• NetBank, US
• Terra Securities, US
• Sentinel Management Group, US
• Washington Mutual, US
• National City Corp, US
• Haven Trust Bank, US (12 Dec 08)
  
• Main Street Bank, US (10 Oct 08)
  
• Meridian Bank, US (10 Oct 08)
  
• Alpha Bank and Trust, US (24 Oct 08)
  
• Freedom Bank, US (31 Oct 08)
  
• Franklin Bank, US (7 Nov 08)
  
• Security Pacific Bank, US (7 Nov 08)
  
• The Community Bank, US (21 Nov 08)
  
• Downey Savings and Loan, US (21 Nov 08)
  
• PFF Bank and Trust, US (21 Nov 08)
• First Georgia Community Bank, US (5 Dec 08)  
• Haven Trust Bank, US (12 Dec 08)
• Sanderson State Bank, US (12 Dec 08)
  
• National Bank of Commerce, US (16 Jan 09)
  
• Bank of Clark County, US (16 Jan 09)
• 1st Centenial Bank, US (23 Jan 09)
  
• MagnetBank, US (30 Jan 09)
  
• Suburban Federal Savings Bank, US (30 Jan 09)
  
• Ocala National Bank, US (30 Jan 09)
  
• FirstBank Financial Services, US (6 Feb 09)
  
• Alliance Bank, US (6 Feb 09)
  
• County Bank, US (6 Feb 09)
• Sherman County Bank, US (13 Feb 09)
  
• Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast, US (13 Feb 09)
  
• Corn Belt Bank and Trust, US (13 Feb 09)
  
• Pinnacle Bank, US (13 Feb 09)
• Silver Falls Bank, US (2o Feb 09)

Company acquisitions (i.e. the flies that got swallowed by bigger flies)

• Countrywide Financial, US
• Bear Stearns, US
• Alliance & Leicester, UK
• Merrill Lynch, US
• Washington Mutual, US
• Derbyshire Building Society, UK
• Cheshire Building Society, UK
• HBOS, UK
• Lehman Brothers, US
• Ameriquest Mortgage, US
• Wachovia, US
• Fortis, Belgium/Luxembourg
• National City Corp, US
• Caisse d'Epargne, France

Government bailouts and takeovers (i.e. the weak flies that had to be fed by the kitchen)

• Northern Rock, UK
• IKB Deutsche Industriebank, Germany
• SachsenLB, Germany
• WestLB, Germany
• IndyMac Federal Bank, US
• Fannie Mae, US
• Freddie Mac, US
• American International Group, US
• Bradford & Bingley, UK
• Fortis, Belgium/Luxembourg/The Netherlands
• Glitnir, Iceland
• Kaupthing, Iceland
• Landsbanki, Iceland
• Hypo Real Estate, Germany
• Dexia, Belgium/France
• RBS , UK (on 10 Oct 08)
• HBOS, UK (on 10 Oct 08)
• Lloyds TSB, UK (on 10 Oct 08)
• UBS, Switzerland (on 16 Oct 08)
• ING, The Netherlands (on 19 Oct 08)
• BNP Paribas, France* (on 21 Oct 08)
• Credit Agricole, France* (on 21 Oct 08)
• Societe Generale, France* (on 21 Oct 08)
• Credit Mutuel, France* (on 21 Oct 08)
• BayernLB, Germany (on 22 Oct 08)
• Indover, Indonesia (on 23 Oct 08)
• Banc of America, US ^ (on 24 Oct 08)
• Merrill Lynch, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Citigroup, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• JPMorgan Chase, US ^ (on 24 Oct 08)
• Wells Fargo, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Goldman Sachs, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Morgan Stanley, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Bank of New York, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• State Street, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Capital One, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• First Niagara, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• PNC, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Regions Financial, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• First Horizon, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• City National, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• SunTrust, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Northern Trust, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Fifth Third, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• BB&T, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Washington Federal, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Valley National, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Huntington, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• KeyCorp, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Comerica, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• UCBH, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Old National, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• HF Financial, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Redding Bank, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Provident, US ^(on 24 Oct 08)
• Freedom Bank, US (on 30 Oct 08)
• Commerzbank, Germany (on 3 Nov 08)
• Anglo Irish Bank, Ireland (on 19 December 2008)
• Allied Irish Banks, Ireland (on 19 December 2008)
• Bank of Ireland, Ireland (on 19 December 2008)

*Note: The French state purchased subordinated debt securities issued by the Banks, and did not receive any equity stake or operational control in return for the cash injection

^ Note: The US Treasury bought equity stakes in large and regional banks as part of the US$700bn bailout plan approved by the Congress

Gee, we REALLY need a saviour for this financial crisis.