September 15: Mark That Day With A Big Black Box On Your Calendar

Mark September 15 into your diaries. It's the date the world shifted into full scale financial panic. Not surprising, really. It's not every week that we see the disappearance of two of the investment banking world's giants, Britain's largest mortgage lender, and one of the world's largest insurance companies - and that was just the road toll at deadline late Thursday afternoon. With reports of other institutions teetering, the casualty list is by no means complete.

Lloyds Comes To Hbos's Rescue

BRITAIN'S largest mortgage lender, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), has agreed to a #12.2 billion ($27 billion) rescue by Lloyds TSB, though institutional shareholders expressed dissatisfaction over the terms of the emergency takeover - the biggest rescue in British history.