![<p>The Panic - Run on the Fourth National Bank, No. 20 Nassau Street [New York City, 1873]. (Image LC-USZ6-952 via<a href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a00900/"> Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division</a>)<br></p>](/-/media/images/financial-stability_720x450.jpg)
The Federal Reserve monitors financial system risks and engages at home and abroad to help ensure the system supports a healthy economy for U.S. households, communities, and businesses.
![Two men carry the Lehman Brother’s corporate sign to an auction house in London.](/-/media/images/support_for_specific_institutions_720x450.jpg)
Support for Specific Institutions
The failures of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and the bailout of AIG occurred in 2008
![Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, pauses during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008. Bernanke said lending conditions in the U.S. are still "far from normal."](/-/media/images/fed_credit_programs_720x450.jpg)
Fed Credit Programs
The Fed introduced various credit programs to deal with the 2007-09 financial crisis
![FRBNY President William McDonough](/-/media/images/near_failure_ltcm.jpg)
Near Failure of LTCM
A group of banks and brokerage firms prevented the collapse of this hedge fund in 1998
![A South Korean labor union member of Seoulbank, one of South Korea's most bad-debt burdened commercial banks, looks downcast.](/-/media/images/asian_financial_crisis_720x450.jpg)
Asian Financial Crisis
A financial crisis started in Thailand in July 1997 and spread across East Asia
![Composite of newspaper headlines reporting the Stock Market Crash of 1987](/-/media/images/crash_of_1987_720x450.jpg)
Crash of 1987
The Dow dropped 22.6 percent on Black Monday, October 19, 1987
![Continental Illinois bank building](/-/media/images/failure_continental_illinois_720x450.jpg)
Continental Illinois: A Bank That Was Too Big to Fail
The phrase “too big to fail” became commonly used for the first time after Continental’s crisis
![Demonstrators in Mexico City march in protest of the International Monetary Fund and the Mexican government, 1986](/-/media/images/latin_american_debt_crisis_720x450.jpg)
Latin American Debt Crisis
During the 1980s, many Latin American countries were unable to service their foreign debt
![May 13, 1985: Depositors line up to withdraw money from a Baltimore bank following the court order that limited depositors' cash withdrawals until a purchaser was found for the troubled savings and loan.](/-/media/images/savings_and_loan_crisis_1_720x450.jpg)
Savings and Loan Crisis
The 1980s was a period of distress for the financial sector, especially savings and loans
![President Roosevelt signs the Glass-Steagall Act alongside the bill's co-sponsors, Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry Steagall, and others.](/-/media/images/glass_steagall_720x450.jpg)
Banking Act of 1933
Commonly called Glass-Steagall, the Act was widely debated before its enactment
![President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Emergency Banking Act](/-/media/images/emergency_banking_act_1_720x450.jpg)
Emergency Banking Act
The 1933 law was aimed at restoring public confidence in the nation’s financial system
![Crowds gather on Wall Street as banks reopened on March 13, 1933, after the Bank Holiday.](/-/media/images/bank_holiday_declared_720x450.jpg)
Bank Holiday of 1933
For an entire week in March 1933, all banking transactions were suspended
![<p>Closed bank, northern Minnesota town</p>](/-/media/images/emergency-lending_720x450.jpg)
Emergency Lending to Nonbank Borrowers
The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 expanded the Fed's ability to make certain loans under "unusual and exigent circumstances."
![<p>Clerks at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation computing interest on RFC loans, c. 1937</p>](/-/media/images/rfc-1932-720x450.jpg)
Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act
During the years 1932 and 1933, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation effectively served as the discount lending arm of the Federal Reserve Board.
![The crowd outside of the East New York Savings Bank during the run on that bank, November 24, 1933](/-/media/images/banking_panics_1931_33_1_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of 1931-33
Earlier regional banking panics turned into a nationwide financial crisis in fall 1931
![<p>John Poole, president of the Federal American National Bank in Washington, D.C., stands on a narrow ledge outside the building and declares to the crowd that the institution was sound, February 5, 1931. </p>](/-/media/images/banking_panic_1930_31_3_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of 1930-31
The U.S. appeared to be poised for economic recovery when a series of bank panics began in fall 1930
![Crowd in front of the New York Stock Exchange, October 1929](/-/media/images/crash_of_1929_1_720x450.jpg)
Crash of 1929
On October 28, 1929, the Dow declined nearly 13 percent
![Crowd on Wall Street during the Panic of 1907.](/-/media/images/panic_1907_1_720x450.jpg)
Panic of 1907
The story of the crash that inspired monetary reform
![Drawing titled 'The recent panic - scene in the New York Stock Exchange on the morning of Friday, May 5th'](/-/media/images/panics_gilded_age_1_720x450.jpg)
Banking Panics of the Gilded Age
The late 19th century was beset by panics