The Transformation of Property Rights in Corporate Insolvency and Bank Resolution

Abstract

Relying on a ‘tragedy of the commons/anti-commons’ analysis, the paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework that explains and justifies both the procedural and substantive transformation of property rights in corporate insolvency and bank resolution. On that basis, the paper further seeks to predict one of the unintended consequences of the new bank resolution framework: a likely increase of the costs of capital for smaller and less complex institutions, that may result in a further consolidation of the banking sector over the long term. This goes against the underlying rationale of the bank resolution framework of effectively tackling ‘too-big-to-fail’.

Keywords: European Union, bank resolution regime, Single Resolution Mechanism, bail-in, bank restructuring, bank liquidation, insolvency

JEL Classification: K