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In 2008, the U.S. economy faced its most serious crisis since the Great Depression.

The subprime mortgage crisis, triggered by a sharp rise in delinquencies and foreclosures, deepened as the year wore on, sending the global financial system into chaos and forever changing the face of Wall Street.

In March, Bear Stearns suddenly collapsed under the weight of toxic loans and a lack of investor confidence. JPMorgan Chase bought Bear for $10 a share with the Federal Reserve taking on $30 billion in troubled loans.

It was a shocking end for one of the oldest and most respected investment banks, whose shares had traded at $172 just a year earlier.

Then Lehman Brothers, another venerable investment bank drowning in bad loans, fought off rumors about its financial health. Unable to find a buyer or a bailout, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, marking the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, with more than $600 billion of debt.

Within a week, Barclays PLC and Nomura Holdings bought large chunks of Lehman at bargain prices.

The same day, Merrill Lynch, badly wounded from the subprime crisis, agreed to be acquired by Bank of America, ending the company’s 94-year history independence.

By the end of September, Washington Mutual, the nation's biggest thrift, collapsed and sold off its assets to JPMorgan Chase.

Wells Fargo stunned the markets by announcing a merger with Wachovia, which walked out on a previous deal with Citigroup.

And in a move that fundamentally altered the landscape of Wall Street, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two big independent investment banks, became bank holding companies. They agreed to tighter regulation, in exchange for more access to the Federal Reserve's lending facilities.

Still, the crisis which crippled the banking sector showed little sign of easing as the year drew to a close.