The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed majorly to the onset of the 2007-08 financial crisis .
It began in 2007 with a crisis in the subprime mortgage market in the US , and developed into a full-blown international banking crisis with the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the collapse of a number of major investment banks , including the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15 , 2008 .
Financial crisis of 2007–08