Timeline: The credit crunch of 2007/2008

LONDON (Reuters) - Credit market turmoil has hammered the global banking system, forced asset writedowns of more than a third of a trillion dollars to date, squeezed lending everywhere and initiated a sharp slowing of the world economy.

Reuters News is producing a package of stories analyzing the impact of the credit crunch on consumers, policymakers and investors around the world.

Below is a timeline of events.

* Q4, 2006 - U.S. housing market slows after two years of rising official interest rates. Delinquency rates on U.S. subprime mortgages rise, leading to wave of bankruptcies at subprime lenders. Interest rate premia on Collateralized Debt Obligations, repackaged bonds and loans which included subprime mortgage debt, jump sharply in December 2006 and January 2007.

* Feb 8, 2007 - HSBC says more funds will have to be set aside to cover bad debts in U.S. subprime lending portfolios. California's New Century Financial Corp -- the third largest U.S. subprime lender -- said it expected Q4 2006 loss. Spreads on non-investment grade tranches of home equity CDOs widen more than 200 basis points in two days that follow.

* June 6 - European Central Bank raises key interest rates by a quarter point to 4.0 percent.

* June 20 - Two hedge funds managed by U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns announce losses after making bad bets on securities backed by subprime loans. They sell $4 billion of assets to cover investor redemptions and expected margin calls. Merrill Lynch sells off assets seized from the funds.

* July 5 - Bank of England raises key interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 5.75 percent.

* July 10 - Credit ratings firm Standard & Poor's said it may cut ratings on some $12 billion of subprime debt. U.S. firms Home Depot (HD.N) and D.R. Horton (DHI.N) issue warnings about housing market. Credit spreads soar by full percentage point in 6 weeks from record low of 188 basis points hit on June 1.

* July 17 - Bear Stearns says two hedge funds with subprime exposure have very little value; credit spreads soar. Two days later, S&P slashes ratings on some top-rated mortgage bonds by eight notches.

* July 30 - German bank IKB IKB.DE cuts earnings targets for 2007/08, citing losses linked to U.S. subprime. Credit spreads balloon to record highs above 500 basis points.

* Aug 7 - U.S. Federal Reserve leaves interest rates at 5.25 percent, saying economic growth remains moderate despite tighter credit conditions and that inflation remains its main concern.

* Aug 9 - European Central Bank adds 94.8 billion euros of one-day funds to money markets as interbank lending seizes up amid concern about banks subprime exposure and surging overnight borrowing rates. ECB move comes after French bank BNP Paribas froze $2.2 billion worth of funds, citing subprime problems. Fed and Bank of Canada also add liquidity to their banking systems. Germany's Bundesbank organizes meeting to rescue IKB. German regulators say they are looking into $17.5 billion funding vehicle of German state bank SachsenLB, raising concerns about bank conduits and bank-sponsored structured investment vehicles heavily dependent on short-term finance.

* Aug 17 - Fed surprises markets by cutting discount rate for direct loans to banks by half a percentage point to 5.75 percent, citing downside risks to growth from tightening credit. SachsenLB said German savings banks provide credit facility of 17.3 billion euros to secure liquidity of its Ormond Quay conduit.

* Aug 21 - Britain's Barclays Bank (BARC.L) borrows 314 million pounds from Bank of England's standing lending facility, the first use of that penalty rate facility since credit crisis began. Barclays taps central bank for emergency funds of some 1.6 billion pounds for a second time on August 30, citing a technical hitch in UK clearing system.

* Sept 6 - ECB leaves interest rates at 4.0 percent, widely seen as postponement of rate rise it had signaled in August.