Box 4.1 International effects of the financial crisis
The credit crisis quickly became international as banks around the world began reporting
losses arising from their investment in US mortgage-backed securities. Germany’s Deutsche
Bank, France’s retail bank Credit Agricole, Belgian bank Fortis, Swiss bank Credit Suisse, ´
English bank Lloyds TSB and Japan’s Mizuho were all among those banks reporting
reduced profits and bad debts arising from the subprime market. In September 2007,
Northern Rock, Britain’s fifth largest mortgage lender, was granted emergency funding by
the Bank of England after finding itself unable to secure loans from elsewhere. The news
led to the first run on a British bank for more than a century as thousands of depositors
queued to withdraw their money.