G. Kennedy Thompson G. Kennedy Thompson G. Kennedy "Ken" Thompson (born November 25, 1950) is an American businessman who was previously chairman, president, and CEO of Wachovia Corporation, formerly First Union Corporation, from 2000 through 2008. First Union Corporation acquired Wachovia Corporation and changed its name to Wachovia in September 2001 after fending off a hostile takeover attempt by SunTrust Bank. Thompson succeeded Edward E. Crutchfield in 2000, who stepped down due to health reasons. Previous positions at First Union included vice chairman of the corporation and head of Global Capital Markets; president, First Union-Florida; senior vice president and head of First Union
Bluestone Group mortgage backed securities (RMBS) changed radically in July 2007, the start of the Credit Crunch. From this point onwards, risk aversion in the debt capital markets increased sharply, and the RMBS market effectively shut in early 2008. RAMS, a large non-bank mortgage lender failed in August 2007, the first major casualty of the credit crunch in Australia. The business had been listed on the ASX just 8 weeks earlier at a market capitalisation of A$880m. Bluestone was one of the last lenders to access the Australian and NZ debt capital markets without government support in late 2007 and early 2008,