Washington Mutual Tank Tops
Description: Washington Mutual, Inc., abbreviated to WaMu, was a savings bank holding company and the former owner of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. Washington Mutual Bank's closure and receivership is the largest bank failure in American financial history.
Description: The Great Seattle Fire destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington on June 6, 1889. Rising from the ashes like a phoenix on September 25, 1889, Washington Mutual was a sign of strength and resolve in a time of destruction and uncertainty. In 2007, a combination of subprime loans bundled as securities and sold on Wall Street to hungry investors, opaque financial derivatives that posed a systemic threat, an unsustainable housing boom, banking executives pulling fat bonuses to take on ever-more risk created the perfect recipe for disaster. By 2008, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department were pressuring WaMu to find a buyer to avoid an FDIC takeover, but WaMu pushed on, ultimately failing in September of 2008.
