JP Morgan and Bear Stearns have signed a collateral agreement under which Bear and its units agreed to guarantee to repay any loans or advances made by JP Morgan.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street giant JP Morgan said the guarantee and collateral agreement also requires Bear to repay any amounts paid by JP Morgan to creditors of Bear. JP Morgan said Bear and its units secured their guarantee by granting a lien on substantially all of their respective assets, subject to certain carve-outs.