Part I Elements of Bank Resolution Regimes, 2 Bank Resolution Techniques
This chapter discusses the available ‘toolkits’—or mechanisms—for resolving all types of banks and their affiliates, with the caveat that such tools can only be implemented on a case-by-case basis. In order to demonstrate the coverage of these methods, the hierarchy of approaches to bank failure is as follows: sale of the business by the purchase of assets and the assumption of liabilities (i.e. a purchase and assumption transaction), write-down or conversion of long-term unsecured debt into equity (bail-in), liquidation, and state aid (bail-out). Additionally, the normal state of resolution for a business in the commercial world is a restructuring in which creditors consent to a variation in their rights in order to maximize the residual value of an insolvent commercial company for the collective benefit of all its stakeholders and preserve its critical operations for the benefit of the broader market—a method that should be adapted for use in the banking industry.