This is how the dominoes of Western banking institutions affected by the US credit collapse began to fall one after another.

Aug 28, 2007: German regional bank Sachsen Landesbank is sold to a larger rival, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, to save it from collapse.

Sept 3: German regional lender IKB unveils a $1 billion loss on investment linked to the US sub-prime market.

Oct 1: Swiss bank USB is the first of the world's top-flight banks to announce losses resulting from the collapse in the value of subprime-related investments.

Oct 15: Banking giant Citigroup writes down a total of $9 billion.

Oct 30: Merrill Lynch unveils a $7.9 billion exposure to bad debt.

Feb 17, 2008: Northern Rock, Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage lender, is nationalized by the government for a temporary period.

Mar 18: Bear Stearns is bought by JPMorgan Chase for $2 a share.

Apr 22: Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's second-biggest banking group, asks shareholders for 12 billion pounds to shore up its finances, one of the largest rights issues in UK history.

June 25: Barclays becomes the latest big bank to admit to problems as it announces plans to raise 4.5 billion pounds by issuing 1.6 billion new shares, which are mostly sold to Middle Eastern investors.

Sept 8: US Treasury steps in to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies which guarantee half of all US mortgages.

Sept 14: Merrill Lynch is sold to Bank of America for about $44 billion.

Sept 14: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy and becomes the first major bank to collapse since the start of the credit crisis.

(HK Edition 09/17/2008 page2)