5 Lessons from First Too-Big-To-Fail Bank

While most people associate the concept of "too big to fail" with the financial crisis of 2008-09, its origins actually date back to the 1984 government takeover of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust. The nation's seventh-largest lender at the time, Continental Illinois found itself on the brink of failure after a series of strategic missteps caused creditors to pull funding from the bank.