Contact: John Hartgen
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SPECIAL BANKRUPTCY COURT NOT NEEDED TO DEAL WITH “TOO BIG TO FAIL” BANKS, ACCORDING TO OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ABI QUICK POLL RESPONDENTS

February 23, 2010, Alexandria, Va. — Seventy-six percent of ABI Quick Poll respondents do not think that a special bankruptcy court is needed to deal with “too big to fail” banks. Sixty-two percent of respondents “strongly disagreed” and 14 percent “somewhat disagreed.”

The proposal for a special bankruptcy court for “too big to fail” banks is under consideration by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) as part of the financial regulatory overhaul being considered Senate Banking Committee. The proposed court would work in tandem with a process to dismantle a failing large non-bank financial institution in a way that does not cause collateral damage to the markets, like the financial system’s near collapse in 2008 after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

Twenty-one percent of respondents thought that a special bankruptcy court is needed to deal with “too big to fail” banks. Fourteen percent “strongly agreed” and 7 percent “agreed somewhat” that a special bankruptcy court is needed as part of the financial regulatory overhaul. Only one percent of respondents did not know or had no opinion on the issue.

ABI members and members of the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “Congress should create a special bankruptcy court for ‘too big to fail’ banks.”

ABI’s Quick Poll is posted on ABI’s home page, www.abiworld.org. ABI members and the public are invited to respond to a question on a timely bankruptcy or insolvency issue. Visit http://www.abiworld.net/quickpoll/ to access the results of previous ABI Quick Polls.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 12,400 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.