The financial crisis in the late 2000s rapidly and deeply spread throughout the international financial system and whole economies. Regulatory, corporate and legal safeguards were found wanting. Response varied but mostly required vast infusions of public money into failing financial institutions to keep them afloat. After the crisis a three-pillar Banking union was put in place. The uniqueness of bank resolution inside the Banking union is its ability to largely disregard national borders and enact a common resolution process for a multi-state group. A carefully and diligently prepared process, being available for quick activation should an emergency arise. With several resolution instruments at hand, its main objectives are to preserve financial stability and prevent problems spilling over to other institutions. The main difference with other insolvency procedures are extraordinary powers of the competent resolution authority. Its job is to complete the resolution process in a very short time, with interests of the usual stakeholders being significantly sidelined. This is the crucial difference compared to compulsory composition, the most similar procedure, where creditors cooperation is necessary. As there have been very few resolution cases, especially complex ones, experience is limited. Therefore, only a theoretical guess can be made what problems could arise during the resolution process.
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