Largest banks to submit contingency plans in case of failure

by JON PRIOR

Banks with $50 billion or more in assets will submit periodic contingency plans to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve for winding down in case of failure and bankruptcy.

The FDIC insures 37 banks required to submit the wind-down plans. These institutions held $3.6 trillion in deposits at the end of 2010. They account for nearly 60% of all deposits in the U.S.

The FDIC rule passed Tuesday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2012. It requires these banks to submit strategies ensuring the FDIC can grant depositors their money within one business day of failure. The plans must also maximize the return of sale once the assets are sold.

Among the strategies, banks must consider which assets will be retained in receivership and marketed broadly and which core business lines and assets must be sold or transferred to a "bridge institution" to continue operating. This could be an interim step before the sale of the business or asset.

The banks must include how employees determine the current market value for these assets and businesses, and they must describe their interconnections and relationships with other banks to help determine how a failure elsewhere in the industry would affect their solvency status.

The Fed rule requires the banks to submit plans on how they will be resolved in a bankruptcy proceeding. Banks with $250 billion or more in assets must submit plans by July 1, 2012. Those with $100 billion or more in assets must submit plans by July 1, 2013.

Both the FDIC and the Fed approved the rules jointly.

"These two rules will ensure the comprehensive and coordinated resolution planning for both the insured depository and its holding company and affiliates in the event that an orderly liquidation is required," said FDIC Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg. "The rules will also facilitate improved efficiencies and risk management practices among covered institutions as they produce and evaluate these plans."

URL to original article: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/09/13/largest-banks-to-submit-contingency-plans-in-case-of-failure

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