WaMu is the largest US bank failure, economists say. File photo
Washington Mutual Inc, the largest US savings and loan, was closed by the government in by far the largest failure of a US bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase for USD 1.9 billion.
Customers of WaMu withdrew USD 16.7 billion from accounts since September 16, leaving the Seattle-based bank "unsound,'' the Office of Thrift Supervision said late Thursday.
The transaction gives JPMorgan roughly 5,400 branches, and fulfills JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon's long-held goal of becoming a retail bank force in the western United States, experts point out.
JPMorgan rose USD 2.96, or 7.3 percent, to USD 43.46 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading before the deal was announced.