LONDON, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - US bank JPMorgan Chase stands accused of precipitating the collapse of American investment bank Lehman Brothers by freezing Lehman assets days before it filed for bankruptcy protection, the Sunday Times reported.

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 (AFP) - The US Congress Thursday steps up scrutiny of the government role in the rescue of Bear Stearns, even as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke argued the central bank 'did not bail out' the Wall Street investment giant.

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday the central bank 'did not bail out Bear Stearns' but aided a rescue of the Wall Street firm 'to preserve the integrity' of the financial system.

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - The Federal Reserve intervened to save investment bank Bear Stearns to avert a 'chaotic' situation that could have triggered broad economic impacts, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday said it has approved JPMorgan Chase's proposed takeover of Bear Stearns, two weeks after it was announced, explaining the exceptionally short delay was due to the 'emergency' of the situation.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 (AFP) - A US Senate panel Wednesday set a hearing on the takeover of troubled investment bank Bear Stearns as lawmakers voiced concern about the government's unusual role in the rescue.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 (AFP) - The US Senate's powerful Finance Committee has opend a probe into the government role in the takeover of the ailing investment bank Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase, a large investment firm.

JPMorgan mounted a takeover for Bear Stearns, presently valued at over one billion dollars, following the Wall Street bank's near collapse earlier this month.

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase hiked its offer Monday for Bear Stearns to 10 dollars per share, or over one billion dollars, quintupling a fire-sale price agreed a week earlier for the distressed investment bank.

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase boosted its takeover offer Monday for distressed investment bank Bear Stearns to 10 dollars per share, or over one billion dollars, in a deal approved by both US banks.

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase said Monday that it was significantly hiking its takeover offer for distressed bank Bear Stearns to 10 dollars per share in a deal approved by both banks.

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase executives held talks over the weekend that could result in the bank raising its takeover offer for distressed bank and brokerage Bear Stearns, the New York Times reported Monday.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 (AFP) - US banking giant JPMorgan Chase prepared Monday to take over crisis-hit investment bank Bear Stearns for 236 million dollars, just a fraction of what it worth only last week, as a credit crunch rocked Wall Street.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 (AFP) - US banking titan JPMorgan Chase prepared Monday to take over the crisis-hit investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns for around 236 million dollars as a credit crunch rocks Wall Street.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 (AFP) - US banking titan JPMorgan Chase prepared Monday to take over the crisis-hit investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns for around 236 million dollars as a credit crunch rocks Wall Street.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) - US banking titan JPMorgan Chase said late Sunday it was taking over the crisis-hit investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns for around 236 million dollars.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) - Crisis-hit Bear Stearns will be bought by JP Morgan Chase for two dollars a share, company officials said.

JPMorgan Chase announced in a statement is acquiring The Bear Stearns Companies after boards of Directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) - Crisis-hit Bear Stearns will be bought by JP Morgan Chase for two dollars a share, company officials said.

JPMorgan Chase announced in a statement is acquiring The Bear Stearns Companies after boards of Directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction.

NEW YORK, March 16, 2008 (AFP) - Bear Stearns, fresh from narrowly avoiding collapse, is nearing a deal in which it could be bought by J.P. Morgan Chase for some 2.2 billion dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported online Sunday.

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - The near-collapse of US investment giant Bear Stearns and its Federal Reserve bailout on Friday heightened fears that the worst is not over for the spreading global credit crunch.

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - Battered by the subprime mortgage crisis, US investment giant Bear Stearns said Friday that it had obtained an emergency loan from JPMorgan Chase backed by the Federal Reserve to avert a collapse.

Bear Stearns said its liquidity position had 'significantly deteriorated' in the last 24 hours, forcing it to seek aid.

NEW YORK, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - US investment giant Bear Stearns, citing a potential cash crunch, said Friday it was getting an emergency loan from JPMorgan Chase in coordination with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The company said its liquidity position had 'significantly deteriorated' in the last 24 hours, forcing it to seek aid.

NEW YORK, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase on Friday said it was acting with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to provide emergency secured funding to troubled US investment bank Bear Stearns for an initial period of up to 28 days.

The emergency funding will be available to Bear Stearns 'as necessary,' JPMorgan Chase said in a statement.

NEW YORK, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase on Friday said it was acting with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to provide emergency secured funding to US investment bank Bear Stearns for an initial period of up to 28 days.

The emergency funding will be available to Bear Stearns 'as necessary,' JPMorgan Chase said in a statement.

LONDON, Jan 11, 2008 (AFP) - Stricken British bank Northern Rock said Friday it had sold part of its mortgage book to US investment bank JP Morgan for 2.25 billion pounds (4.39 billion euros, 2.97 billion dollars) in cash.

The troubled lender, which has been mired in a funding crisis since September, said it would use the cash towards repaying its emergency central bank loan.

LONDON, Jan 10, 2008 (AFP) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair is to join Wall Street bank JPMorgan Chase as a part-time senior advisor, the company said Thursday.

LONDON, Jan 10, 2008 (AFP) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair is to join Wall Street bank JP Morgan as a part-time advisor, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Blair, who became international envoy to the Middle East after standing down following a decade as premier in June last year, will advise the financial services giant on political and strategic issues.

NEW YORK, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) - Goldman Sachs on Thursday raised its fourth-quarter estimates for billion-dollar asset writedowns at Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch as a result of squeezed credit.

Goldman Sachs said it expects the financial markets would not fully absorb the current credit crises initially stemming from a US housing slump until mid-2008.

DUBAI, Dec 11, 2007 (AFP) - The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), a government holding firm valued at 81.7 billion dollars, held talks this week with JPMorgan Chase and Co on ways to cooperate, ICD said on Tuesday.