G. Kennedy Thompson of court a case in which it allegedly laundered over $378 billion in cash and traveler's checks from Mexican drug cartels in the years 2004 - 2006, during Thompson's tenure as CEO. Terms of the settlement included a $110 million forfeiture and a $50 million fine. Thompson was pushed out of Wachovia Bank (WB) on June 2, 2008, as head of the nation’s fourth-largest bank, becoming the latest financial services executive to be ousted amid turmoil in the U.S. housing market. Thompson will not receive any incentive pay for the 2008 fiscal year, but according to a filing with the
Financial crisis of 2007–2008 access to liquidity, and increasing the flexibility with which institutions could tap such liquidity. This credit freeze brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse. The response of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and other central banks was immediate and dramatic. During the last quarter of 2008, these central banks purchased US$2.5 trillion of government debt and troubled private assets from banks. This was the largest liquidity injection into the credit market, and the largest monetary policy action, in world history. Following a model initiated by the United Kingdom bank rescue package,