The sweeping financial rescue package announced by the government on Friday marks the latest phase of a wrenching upheaval that has reshaped the US financial system in recent months.

Here is rundown of major developments:

— March 16. Bear Stearns Cos. is bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a deal orchestrated by and backed up by the government following a sharp decline in shares and a collapse in confidence in the company.

— July 11. Federal regulators seize IndyMac Bank after it succumbs to the pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures. IndyMac is the largest thrift ever to fail in the US.

— September 7. In a bid to stabilise the nation's troubled housing market, the government seizes control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two publicly traded companies that together hold or guarantee about half the nation's mortgage loans.

— September 10. Lehman Brothers puts itself up for sale after reporting a $4 billion loss and says it will spin off its troubled commercial real estate assets.

— September 14. In a weekend of furious negotiations, US regulators make it clear there will be no government bailout for Lehman Brothers. Fearful of fallout from a Lehman failure, Merrill Lynch & Co. arranges a hasty deal to be bought by Bank of America Corp.

— September 15. Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy, the largest ever in the United States. Investor concerns turn next to American International Group Inc. (AIG), a giant insurance company, after a plunge in that company's stock and downgrades to its debt by credit ratings agencies who say the slumping housing market could further undermine its finances.

— September 16. The US government announces an $85 billion emergency loan to rescue AIG, saying a disorderly failure of the company could further disrupt already delicate financial markets and the economy.

— September 17. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) bans some aggressive forms of short-selling.

— September 18. The Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia pump up to $180 billion into money markets in a bid to free up a lending freeze between banks. Markets rally on hopes for a broader government rescue package. That night, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke ask Congress for authority to rescue banks by buying bad assets from them.

—September 19. Following a series of ad hoc measures, the US government announces a broad rescue plan for the financial system, including a programme to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of bad mortgages and other forms of toxic debt that have been weighing down US financial companies.