We argue that the defining feature of large and complex banks that makes their failures messy is their reliance on runnable financial liabilities that confer liquidity or money-like services that may be impaired or destroyed in bankruptcy. To make large bank failures more orderly, we advocate...

The authors present an analytical framework for bank complexity through the hypothesis that complexity is necessary for banks to stay viable in the evolving industry of financial intermediation. They look at organizational structures of bank holding companies gauged by the number and types of...