Part I Elements of Bank Resolution Regimes, 3 Bank Resolution and Bank Groups
This chapter looks at how the structure of bank groups is factored into the resolution process. In analysing the resolution of banks and other legal entities, a focus on the legal entities alone is a form of false consciousness. Instead, the focus needs to be on resolving the overall financial enterprise of which the bank is a part. By focusing on resolving groups instead of individual legal entities, financial regulatory authorities around the world have developed the single-point-of-entry (SPE) resolution strategy, which has been widely accepted as the most promising solution to the too-big-to-fail problem. When applied to a banking group with a holding company at the top and operating subsidiaries at the bottom, only the top-tier holding company would be put into a bankruptcy or resolution proceeding. The holding company’s assets would then be used to recapitalize the operating subsidiaries, perhaps pursuant to secured capital contribution agreements, and keep them out of their own insolvency or resolution proceedings. The recapitalized group would then be stabilized and its residual value distributed to the failed holding company's stakeholders in satisfaction of their claims.