Speedy, adapted, determined – ECB policy during the crisis  The chronology of the financial turmoil that started in August 2007 is well known (BIS 2008, 2009). Unexpected losses in US subprime securities, a small segment of the international financial markets, rapidly spread to the entire financial system, as risk was repriced for all but the safest asset classes.
In the process significant uncertainty arose about the size and location of losses. The lack of information and doubts about the liquidity and solvency of counterparties acted to amplify the effects of the initial losses. August 2007 saw a new type of bank run, not by depositors (who are protected by deposit insurance schemes) but the wholesale market.