The global financial crisis has demonstrated weaknesses in resolution regimes for financial institutions around the globe, including in the European Union (EU). This paper considers the principles underlying resolution regimes for financial institutions, and draws out how a well-designed resolution regime can expand the toolset available for crisis management. Introducing, or in some cases expanding the scope, of these regimes is pressing to achieve more effective responses to ongoing financial sector weaknesses across the EU.

This Technical Note reviews the key attributes of effective resolution regimes for the banking and insurance sectors in the United States. The United States’ resolution regime for financial institutions has been significantly enhanced since the financial crisis. Over the past several years, the U.S. authorities have undertaken significant efforts to develop the capability to deploy the Orderly Liquidation Authority, if and when needed, to safeguard financial stability. Of particular importance is the development of the so-called single point of entry strategy, designed to take advantage of most systemically important financial institutions in the United States being organized under a holding company structure.

This paper presents a new database of systemic banking crises for the period 1970-2009. While there are many commonalities between recent and past crises, both in terms of underlying causes and policy responses, there are some important differences in terms of the scale and scope of interventions. Direct fiscal costs to support the financial sector were smaller this time as a consequence of swift policy action and significant indirect support from expansionary monetary and fiscal policy, the widespread use of guarantees on liabilities, and direct purchases of assets. While these policies have reduced the real impact of the current crisis, they have increased the burden of public debt and the size of government contingent liabilities, raising concerns about fiscal sustainability in some countries.

This Technical Note discusses the findings and recommendations made in the Financial Sector Assessment Program for the Russian Federation in the areas of bank resolution and a crisis management framework. The findings reveal that the experiences of past financial crises have strengthened the Russian bank resolution framework. The resolution framework has been effective in preserving financial stability. Since January 2014, 28 banks have been placed in open bank resolution, and three were resolved by purchase and assumption transactions. The effectiveness of bank resolution could be improved. Introduction of the full range of resolution powers and safeguards recommended by the Financial Stability Board Key Attributes would improve the framework’s effectiveness.

This Technical Note reviews the key attributes of effective resolution regimes for the banking and insurance sectors in the United States. The United States’ resolution regime for financial institutions has been significantly enhanced since the financial crisis. Over the past several years, the U.S. authorities have undertaken significant efforts to develop the capability to deploy the Orderly Liquidation Authority, if and when needed, to safeguard financial stability. Of particular importance is the development of the so-called single point of entry strategy, designed to take advantage of most systemically important financial institutions in the United States being organized under a holding company structure.

Since the mid-1990s, economic observers have kept a watchful eye on the financial sector because of its potential to spark economic crises. Banks in particular have come under close scrutiny. This book offers guidance on setting up regulatory and supervisory regimes that can help to prevent crises, and on dealing with turmoil, should a crisis erupt. It contains a collection of essays on a wide range of issues useful to bolstering the banking and financial sector.

Financial Crisis Management and Bank Resolution provides an analysis of the responses to the recent crisis that has beset the international financial markets taking a top down approach looking at the mechanisms to manage a financial crisis, to the practicalities of dealing with the resolution of a bank experiencing distress. This work is an interdisciplinary analysis of the law and policy surrounding crisis management and bank resolution. It comprises contributions from a team of leading experts in the field that have been carefully selected from across the globe. These experts are drawn from the law, central banks, government, financial services and academia. This edited collection will provide a new and important contribution to the subject at a crucial time in the debate around banking resolution and crisis management regimes, and help to plug the gap in our knowledge and understanding of the law of bank resolution and restructuring.