JPMorgan buys WaMu Options

[brooklyneast05]

In the biggest bank failure in history, JPMorgan Chase will acquire massive branch network and troubled assets from Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking assets of Washington Mutual late Thursday after the troubled thrift was seized by federal regulators, marking the biggest bank failure in the nation's history and the latest stunning twist in the ongoing credit crisis.

Under the deal, JPMorgan Chase will acquire all the banking operations of WaMu, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.

WaMu becomes the 13th bank to fail so far this year and earns the title of the nation's biggest bank failure by assets on record, ahead of Continental Illinois, which had about $40 billion in assets when it failed in May of 1984.

setting records