WaMu Is Seized, Sold Off to J.P. Morgan, In Largest Failure in U.S. Banking History

By ROBIN SIDEL, DAVID ENRICH and DAN FITZPATRICK

In what is by far the largest bank failure in U.S. history, federal regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc. and struck a deal to sell the bulk of its operations to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Pedestrians walk past a Washington Mutual branch in downtown Seattle.

The collapse of the Seattle thrift, which was triggered by a wave of deposit withdrawals, marks a new low point in the country’s financial crisis. But the deal, as constructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., could hold some glimmers of hope for the beleaguered banking system because it averts any hit to the bank-insurance fund.

Instead, J.P. Morgan agreed to pay $1.9 billion to the government for WaMu’s banking operations and will assume the loan portfolio of the thrift, which has $307 billion in assets. The full cost to J.P. Morgan will be much higher, because it plans to write down about $31 billion of the bad loans and raise $8 billion in new capital. All WaMu depositors will have access to their cash, but holders of more than $30 billion in debt and preferred stock will likely see little if any recovery.