Global Financial Crisis: Navigating and Understanding the Legal and Regulatory Aspects

No single, uniform law governs the restructuring and liquidation of US financial institutions. The restructuring or liquidation of a US financial group can be quite complex because, inmost cases, the component institutions will be subject to different statutory insolvency schemes. The parent holding company, as well as most subsidiaries other than banks, thrifts and insurance companies, are subject to the US Bankruptcy Code. Bank and thrift subsidiaries are subject to a speCialised insolvency regime under Sections 11 and 13 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act if their deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as almost all are. Broker dealers that are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, as almost all are, are subject to the Securities Investor Protection Act in addition to the Bankruptcy Code. The rehabilitation or liquidation of insurance companies is governed by specialised state insurance insolvency codes, which differ from state to state. These specialised laws for ‘resolving’ – to use FDIC terminology – troubled or insolvent banks, thrifts, broker dealers and insurance companies have very different avoidance powers, priorities and distribution schemes that can significantly affect the rights of creditors and other stakeholders as compared to the Bankruptcy Code.