June 14, 2007 – Bear Stearns reports second quarter profits down 10 per cent to $486 million.

June 22, 2007 - Bear Stearns pledges up to $3.2 billion in loans to bail out two hedge funds hit by subprime losses and investor redemptions.

July 19, 2007 – Bear Stearns writes to clients informing them that two of its hedge funds now contain “very little” or “effectively no value” for investors.

August 1, 2007 – Two Bear Stearns hedge funds file for bankruptcy and another has its assets frozen following mortgage-related losses.

September 20, 2007 – Bear Stearns reports third quarter profit down 61 per cent to $171 million

October 4, 2007 – James Cayne, chief executive at Bear Stearns, said: “Most of our businesses are beginning to rebound."

Alan Schwartz, president at Bear Stearns said: "The market is in the “very early stages” of a recovery."

October 22, 2007 - Bear Stearns secures an agreement with CITIC, the state-owned Chinese lender, under which both will invest $1 billion in each other. The Wall Street bank agrees to buy $1 billion of debt in CITIC.

In turn, CITIC will gain a 6 per cent stake in Bear Stearns for the Chinese group's $1 billion investment with an option to buy a further 3.9 per cent share of the US investment bank.

November 28, 2007 – Bear Stearns announces it will cut 650 jobs, or 4 per cent of its global work force.

December 20, 2007 – Bear Stearns posts fourth quarter loss of $854 million after mortgage related writedowns of $1.9 billion. It is the first quarterly loss in its 85-year history.

December 20, 2007 - Barclays sues Bear Stearns for allegedly misleading the UK bank over the performance of two collapsed hedge funds that were used as collateral for a $400 million loan.

December 28, 2007 – Mr Cayne sells $15.4 million of the bank’s stock over the month.

January 9, 2008 – Mr Cayne resigns as chief executive of the company, but stays as chairman, and Mr Schwartz takes over.

March 10, 2008 – Bear Stearns stated that there is absolutely no truth to the rumours of liquidity problems that circulated today in the market.

Mr Schwartz said: "Bear Stearns' balance sheet, liquidity and capital remain strong."

March 12, 2008 – Mr Schwartz said: “We don’t see any pressure on our liquidity, let alone a liquidity crisis.

"We are in constant dialogue with all the major dealers, and I have not been made aware of anybody not taking our credit. None of that speculation is true.”

March 14, 2008 - Bear Stearns confirms it has secured a funding agreement JP Morgan Chase and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Mr Schwartz said: “Bear Stearns has been the subject of a multitude of market rumours regarding our liquidity.

"Amidst this market chatter, our liquidity position in the last 24 hours had significantly deteriorated. We took this important step to restore confidence in us in the marketplace, strengthen our liquidity and allow us to continue normal operations.”

Times Recommends

• Housing gloom deepens as prices plunge 12.7%
• Nestle outsider to head Unilever
• BP's Dudley exits in Russian shake-up