The Financial Industry's Plan for Resolving Failed Megabanks Will Ensure Future Bailouts for Wall Street

Wall Street has achieved a remarkable political comeback from the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Public anger over bailouts of large financial institutions spurred Congress to pass the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd- Frank) in July 2010.1 Megabanks, however, used their political influence to weaken Dodd-Frank's provisions, and they have pursued a determined campaign since 2010 to undermine Dodd- Frank's implementation. A primary goal of Dodd-Frank is to end "too big to fail" (TBTF) treatment for systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) and their creditors. During the debates over Dodd-Frank, however, Wall Street defeated two major initiatives that would have threatened megabanks' TBTF status.

First, Wall Street's political allies voted down a proposed amendment by Senators Sherrod Brown and Ted Kaufman, which would have forced a breakup of the six largest U.S. banks. Second, Wall Street's allies blocked proposals that would have required the largest financial institutions to pay risk-based premiums to prefund the Orderly Liquidation Fund (OLF). As discussed below, the OLF provides funding for resolving failed SIFIs under Title II of Dodd-Frank. Due to Wall Street's success in defeating the prefunding proposals, the OLF currently has a zero balance and must rely on borrowings from the Treasury Department (Treasury) and, ultimately, taxpayers.