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Twelve of the largest financial firms provided more information than they did last year in the public versions of their plans for breaking themselves up in a financial catastrophe, but whether they have done enough to reassure regulators won't be known for months.
July 6 -
Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday that she is willing to reject any of the largest banks' resolution plans that regulators received earlier this month if they are not adequate, but in at least one respect they already appear to be improved.
July 16 -
American International Group, Prudential Financial and General Electric Capital Corp. have completed their first round of "living wills" required for systemically important firms.
July 2 -
WASHINGTON Federal regulators extended the deadline for three nonbank firms considered "systemically important" to submit their revised resolution plans, also known as living wills.
February 18
WASHINGTON Three nonbank giants designated for tougher federal supervision received added guidance Tuesday on what regulators expect to see in the companies' mandated resolution plans.
The stepped-up regulatory requirements for American International Group, Prudential Financial and General Electric Capital all designated as systemically important include that they must submit annual "living wills" to prove they could be unwound in bankruptcy without harming the economy.
Following the firms' initial July 2014 submissions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve Board announced they had provided the companies with feedback on the first drafts, as well as both common and specific guidance on what the next submissions due on Dec. 31 should include.
Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the living will requirements for nonbanks mirror similar standards for "systemically important" banks with at least $50 billion in assets. Policymakers included the requirements to force companies to strategize ways to become simpler.
In the plans, firms must come up with a plan for how they would be resolved through a traditional bankruptcy, but the plans can also aid the FDIC in the agency's development of a facility to resolve a firm when the government deems its bankruptcy could cause systemic problems. The law gave the two agencies powers to order firms with repeatedly subpar plans to divest certain assets or take other corrective action.
All three nonbanks firms should address what "obstacles" stand in the way of their being unwound smoothly, the agencies said. Those include issues dealing with "global cooperation, interconnectedness, and adequate funding and liquidity."
"Further, the agencies instructed the firms to describe in their resolution plans the progress they are making, and the steps remaining, to be more resolvable," the regulators said. "Finally, the agencies directed the firms to strengthen the public portions of the firms' upcoming resolution plans."
The Fed and FDIC separately issued additional guidance for upcoming drafts due from over 100 bank holding companies also subject to the requirement. Their next plans are due Dec. 31. Many of the institutions, including those that are foreign-owned and have relatively small U.S. footprints, are able to submit relatively simpler plans compared with those of more complex banks.
Meanwhile, the biggest and most complex banking institutions, which are on an accelerated filing schedule and have received the most public attention during the living wills process, handed in their most recent drafts at the beginning of July and the agencies are reviewing them. The regulators had criticized earlier submissions for 11 of those firms, urging them to make improvements or they could face corrective measures authorized in Dodd-Frank.
