Skip to main content

Commentary: A Better Idea for Bankrupt Big Banks

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The most significant Wall Street reform in nearly a decade may soon become law, according to a Wall Street Journal commentary. Last Friday President Trump directed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to review Title II of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which gives the federal government authority to wind down involuntarily failing financial institutions. Treasury is to issue a report that considers whether changing the U.S. Bankruptcy Code “would be a superior method of resolution for financial companies” while preventing bailouts. Congress is already moving in that direction, according to the commentary. The Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act (FIBA) passed the House earlier this month with wide bipartisan support. FIBA would amend the Bankruptcy Code to streamline chapter 11 cases of “systemically important financial institutions,” or SIFIs, while minimizing disruptions to the rest of the economy.