On Feb. 26, the previously low-profile company, which controls more than 400 office properties in second-tier cities and suburbs, was thrust into the limelight when Related Cos. and Corvex Management LP announced they had purchased nearly 10% of the company and offered to buy the remainder.

WSJ: Plots & Ploys: Long Live the Hotel Pennsylvania

Bear Stearns Cos. could be eyeing acquisitions in the asset-management or mortgage sectors, getting a boost from an infusion of capital from a new foreign stakeholder.

FORBES: Bear Stearns' Big Strategy

And my own judgment is that - and being slightly detached from this cos I'm not directly involved in the day to day management of these issues - is that they have been managed as well as any government could have anticipated.

BBC: Jack Straw MP. photo courtesy Jeff Overs