US approves rule on bank bankruptcy plans

US regulators approved Tuesday a rule requiring 37 large US and foreign financial institutions to submit plans to allow for their orderly dismantlement in case of bankruptcy.In the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rule, which regulates banks, has adopted the rule in order to better wind up and limit the spillover damage of complex, systemically important financial institutions that fail. Set to take effect on January 1, the rule requires insured banks and other financial institutions with total assets of $50 billion or more to submit their wind-up plans in 2012 and 2013. The FDIC did not identify the 37 financial institutions covered by the rule, but said they held about $3.6 trillion in insured deposits or nearly 60 percent of all insured deposits as of December 31, 2010. The FDIC set the tightest deadline for firms with total US assets of at least $250 billion: July 1, 2012.The second group, with total nonbank assets of $100 billion or more, must file their plans by July 1, 2013, while the remaining institutions have until the end of 2013.The parent company of any foreign-based bank on the list is responsible for filing its resolution plan. A key aim of the resolution plan is to enable the FDIC to ensure that depositors receive access to their insured deposits within one business day of the institution's failure, the agency said. It also should maximize the return from the sale or disposition of its assets and minimize the amount of any loss to creditors. "The rule seeks to address a key lesson from the recent financial crisis that resolution plans for large and complex insured depository intuitions are essential for their orderly and least-cost resolution," the FDIC said in a statement.The new rule is part of financial reforms undertaken after the bankruptcy in September 2008 of one of Wall Street's biggest investment banks, Lehman Brothers, which triggered a financial meltdown that led to global recession.