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3/19/2020

Treasury Releases Report To The President On Orderly Liquidation Authority | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Treasury Releases Report To The President On Orderly
Liquidation Authority
February 21, 2018

Washington –The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released a report regarding its review
and recommendations on the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA). The report responds to the
Presidential Memorandum directing Treasury to propose recommendations to align OLA with
the Core Principles for Financial Regulation and determine whether the Bankruptcy Code
should be reformed to better enable resolution of financial companies. Treasury's
recommendations ensure that taxpayers are protected by strengthening the bankruptcy
procedure for a failed financial company and retaining OLA in very limited circumstances with
significant reforms.
"Treasury recommendations seek to ensure that our financial system is resilient while
protecting taxpayers and promoting market discipline," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. "The
bankruptcy reforms that we propose will make the shareholders, management, and creditors of
a financial company bear any losses from its failure. The policy of this Administration is clear:
we will not tolerate taxpayer-funded bailouts."
In the report, Treasury recommends a new Chapter 14 of the Bankruptcy Code for distressed
financial companies. Treasury recommends significant reforms to make bankruptcy a more
e ective option for financial companies. The Chapter 14 framework would preserve the key
advantage of the existing bankruptcy process—clear, predictable, impartial adjudication of
competing claims—while adding procedural features tailored to the unique challenges posed by
large, interconnected financial companies. These enhancements to the Bankruptcy Code would
make the likelihood of having to use OLA even more remote.
Since the bankruptcy of a large, complex financial company may not be feasible in some
circumstances, Treasury also recommends retaining OLA as an emergency tool for use under
extraordinary circumstances. Treasury recommends making significant reforms to the OLA

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3/19/2020

Treasury Releases Report To The President On Orderly Liquidation Authority | U.S. Department of the Treasury

process to eliminate opportunities for ad hoc disparate treatment of similarly situated creditors,
reinforce existing taxpayer protections, and strengthen judicial review.
The report includes the following recommendations to reform OLA:
Treasury recommends eliminating the FDIC's authority to treat similarly situated creditors
di erently on an ad hoc basis.
Treasury recommends repeal of the tax-exempt status of the bridge company.
With respect to use of the Orderly Liquidation Fund (OLF), Treasury recommends, to the
extent possible, that guarantees of private sector lending be used as opposed to direct
loans, and that premium rates of interest or guarantee fees, as applicable, be charged to
encourage a prompt return to reliance on private-sector credit markets.
Treasury recommends the backstop assessment be imposed as soon as reasonably possible
if an OLF loan is not repaid.
Treasury recommends reforms to the judicial review provisions related to use of the OLA to
provide additional assurance that the government's decision to appoint the FDIC as receiver
of a financial company is the product of reasoned and well-supported analysis.
Read the full recommendations

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https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-release/sm0295

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