TIMELINE: CIT's troubles deepen over past two years

July 15 - CIT Group Inc, a major lender to small- and mid-sized U.S. businesses, said on Wednesday that bailout talks with the government had ended, a development that heightened the chances the company would file for bankruptcy.

Following are some important events in the company's slide into trouble in the past two years:

July 18, 2007 - CIT said it was exiting the mortgage business, including sub-prime home lending, and posted a surprise second-quarter loss. Its shares slide more than 10 percent to $49.17.

Sept 19, 2007 - Says it plans to sell up to $4.2 billion of mortgage-backed securities to Freddie Mac and borrows $2 billion from Morgan Stanley against the expected proceeds as it seeks to shore up financing.

March 20, 2008 - Draws down $7.3 billion of bank lines to help fund daily operations, and its shares plunge 17.3 percent to $9.63. A few days earlier, its long- and short-term credit ratings were cut.

April 17, 2008 - CIT slashes its dividend by 60 percent as it reports another quarterly loss and further asset sales.

June 9, 2008 - It secures $3 billion of financing from Goldman Sachs.

July 17, 2008 - CIT posts a $2.1 billion quarterly loss, but says it can meet its cash needs through the end of 2009.

Sept 29, 2008 - CIT renews about $6 billion in bank financing. Eleven days earlier Wells Fargo Bank agreed on a $500 million credit facility for CIT.

Nov 13, 2008 - CIT applies to become a bank holding company and says it will seek capital under the U.S. government's program bailout program, sending its shares up more than 20 percent to $4.24.

Dec 23, 2008 - The company gets preliminary approval for $2.33 billion under the government's $700 billion financial bailout program.

March 31, 2009 - CIT Group says it is unable to issue government-backed debt as regulators have yet to approve its applications.

June 12, 2009 - Standard & Poor's cuts its rating on CIT Group into junk territory, saying the lender's conversion into a bank holding company did not benefit its liquidity as much as expected.

July 12, 2009 - CIT executives meet government officials and try to work out a financing plan to convince customers and investors that it can work its way out of a deepening liquidity crunch.

July 15, 2009 - Talks with the government fall apart, leading to increasing expectations of a bankruptcy filing.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh; editing by Carol Bishopric)