Wa-Mu, a prime example of banking stupidity.

Washington Mutual, the United State's largest saving and loan association, failed on Thursday and was seized by the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision. Most of the bank's assets will be sold to JPMorgan Chase. This is the largest bank failure in U.S. history, and another in the recent history of failed financial institutions. The buyout by JPMorgan Chase makes Chase the second largest banking institution in the United States.
Washington Mutual began in 1889 as the Washington National Building Loan and Investment Association on September 25, 1889 - 119 years to the day before its dissolution. The bank was formed in response to the 1889 Seattle fire, which destroyed almost the entire financial district of downtown Seattle. Washington National Building Loan and Investment Association became Washington Savings and Loan Association in 1908 and then Washington Mutual Savings Bank by 1930. Washington Mutual made many acquisitions throughout its history, including the Vancouver Federal Savings Bank, Great Western Bank, Fleet Mortgage Corp, and Providian Financial Corporation.
WaMu, as the bank was informally known as, was a savings and loan association. This type of financial institution focuses on accepting savings deposits and making mortgage loans - a specialty which makes it especially susceptible to the current subprime mortgage crisis. The bank held $307 billion in assets but only $188 billion in deposits, leaving it open to massive problems. On Friday, following the news of its collapse, Washington Mutual stocks dropped 90 percent to only $0.16 a share.

What is sorely needed is enforcable regulations that will protect depositors and institutions alike, I doubt this is the end of bank failures, fortunately, the taxpayer through the FDIC didn't have to absorb the entire loss. I'm not normaly in favor of more regulations but Pnozi schemes have to be reined in. If history is no teacher, we are bound to fail.