Very similar thing happened with a US money market fund a few years ago. They are supposed to be rock solid, always being worth $1 per share and paying out a pa

Very similar thing happened with a US money market fund a few years ago. They are supposed to be rock solid, always being worth $1 per share and paying out a paltry amount of interest. But safe. So basically, like a bank (but without the FDIC protections). When Lehmann Brothers went down, the Reserve Primary Fund suddenly didn't have enough money to pay out everyone, which had the same effect of "getting in line with the other creditors". They actually had almost all the money, but distributing it took nearly a year IIRC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_market_fund#September_2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_market_fund#September_200...