Investing.com - Ten years ago today, on August 9 2007, the global financial crisis began in earnest
BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP), one of Europe’s biggest banks, froze three funds exposed to the US subprime mortgage market
Concern over subprime mortgage losses had been growing for months
And Bear Stearns had stopped fund redemptions in July
But the move by BNP prompted the first big policy response from central banks
The ECB immediately conducted a special refinancing operation
The credit crunch was officially on
It was the start of the crisis that brought down banks led to a global recession and the euro zone debt crisis