It is a French bank which ignites the fuse at the origin of the fire. On August 9, 2007, BNP Paribas decided to freeze withdrawals from its clients in three funds that contained “subprime”, poor quality American loans, triggering a global panic. The fire had been smoldering for years as the US Central Bank, the Fed, adept at low interest rates and plentiful liquidity, fueled the American dream of homeownership. Between deregulation and greed, so-called “subprime” real estate loans had multiplied. Loans granted to individuals by brokers with little concern for their solvency were "repackaged" on Wall Street and mixed with other less risky loans, to form securities to which the rating agencies granted without batting an eyelid the maximum confidence rating, type AAA . Financial institutions had gorged themselves with these scattered outstandings, difficult to identify but at the mercy of a
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