Global financial crisis in 2009
During the 2009 global financial crisis, analysts criticized the plan to merge Commerzbank with Dresdner Bank, saying the deal hurt stock prices. Dresdner Bank’s big credit risks from late 2008 led Commerzbank to use the government’s financial stabilization fund, SoFFin. After talks with Germany and the European Commission, Commerzbank received 8.2 billion euros in December 2008 as a silent government stake. At first, Commerzbank said this support was for the banks in general, not specifically because of Dresdner, but that view changed.
On January 8, 2009, Commerzbank sought more help, and Germany’s government, led by Angela Merkel, ended up owning more than 25% of Commerzbank to secure a blocking minority. This was Germany’s first partial nationalization of a big bank. SoFFin’s stake rose to about 16.4 billion euros.
On January 18, Denmark approved a 100 billion kroner package (about 17.6 billion USD), triggering renewed market panic.
From January 1 to February 27, 2009, the U.S. stock market had its worst start to a year ever, with the S&P 500 down about 18.6%. By March 2, the Dow had fallen more than 50% from its 2007 peak, prompting comparisons to the 1929–1931 Great Depression. On March 6, the Bank of England announced up to 150 billion pounds in asset purchases (quantitative easing), raising inflation fears. Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman warned that up to 45% of global wealth could be wiped out by the crisis.
By March 9, 2009, the Dow was around 6,500, its lowest since 1997. A rally began on March 10, and the Dow rose to about 8,500 by May 6. Financial stocks surged, rising more than 150% in that period, and were up about 150% again by May 9.
On June 22, 2009, the World Bank forecast that global production would fall about 2.9% in 2009, the first drop since World War II.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:35 (CET).