Optimal Design Of Bank Bailouts

In most recent banking crises bank regulators have been caught off their guard and have been forced to respond to the crisis in a hurry without the support of an institutional or legal framework designed to deal with bank failures. This is in sharp contrast with the non-financial sector, where a detailed and elaborate bankruptcy law governs the process of liquidation or reorganisation of financially distressed firms. In this paper we address the question of how to design a bankruptcy institution for banks that would serve a similar purpose as existing bankruptcy laws for non-financial firms.