It was just a matter of time WaMu was either shut by the government or sold (in this case both happened).

In the largest bank seizure of all time, rougly 310 billion in assets, the FDIC stepped in and closed WaMu down but did not need to use insurance funds as the FDIC was able to broker a deal in which J.P. Morgan purchased Washington Mutual assets for 1.9 billion dollars.  As a result, JP/Chase will write down roughly 31 billion in bad mortgages WaMu had owned.

The J.P. Morgan/Chase purchase of Washington Mutual’s retail banking business, which is incredibly strong, is a huge victory for the bank.  In the long wrong this purchase has the ability to give JPM a HUGE retail footing and grow into territories previously unavailable to the bank.