... was also a powerful global insurer – the company American International Group (AIG). Tens of billions of dollars of losses had to write off the world's largest banks, such as Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and Citibank. Interconnected through the stock market, the crisis began to spread to those financial business structures, which are not engaged in mortgage lending, and the entire ... non-banking investment institutions. Already in the II and III quarters of 2008, many financial institutions have begun to experience an acute shortage of borrowed funds; Phase III – credit collapse....

• Word Count: 1288
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate