Support for specific institutions In addition to those programs I have just discussed, the Federal Reserve has provided financing directly to specific systemically important institutions. With the full support of the Treasury, we used emergency lending powers to facilitate the acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and also to prevent default by AIG.
These extensions of credit are very different than the other liquidity programs discussed previously and were put in place to avoid major disruptions in financial markets. From a credit perspective, these support facilities carry more risk than traditional central bank liquidity support, but we nevertheless expect to be fully repaid.