by Calculated Risk on 8/22/2007 02:52:00 PM

From Bloomberg: Lehman Brothers Shuts Down Subprime Unit, Fires 1,200 Employees (hat tip Viv)

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the biggest underwriter of U.S. bonds backed by mortgages, became the first firm on Wall Street to close its subprime-lending unit and said 1,200 employees will lose their jobs.

... Lehman acquired Irvine, California-based BNC [Mortgage] in 2004 and used it to expand in lending to homeowners with poor credit or heavy debt loads. ...

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., a subprime specialist, announced 1,600 job cuts earlier today in an effort to outlast the credit crunch that has forced dozens of rivals out of business. HSBC Holdings Plc is eliminating 600 positions in its U.S. operations and closing a mortgage office in Indiana, and Capital One Financial Corp. is closing GreenPoint Mortgage because it can't make money anymore lending to homeowners and then selling those mortgages to investors.

The beat goes on.