Long Term Capital Management

In September 1998 the Federal Reserve organized a rescue of Long-Term Capital Management, a very large and prominent hedge fund on the brink of failure. The Fed intervened because it was concerned about possible dire consequences for world financial markets if it allowed the hedge fund to fail. http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-052es.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_Capital_Management

http://financialservices.house.gov/banking/101298le.htm