On December 1, 2014, the US House of Representatives voted to approve bill H.R. 5421, the Financial Institution Bankruptcy Act of 2014 (FIBA). The bipartisan bill received input from the FDIC and the OCC and would enable bank holding companies and certain large financial institutions (those having consolidated assets of at least $50 billion) to employ the traditional bankruptcy process in a way that limits systematic damage to the global financial markets.

Currently, the Dodd-Frank Act places failed large financial institutions into receivership through the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA). Critics of the OLA claim that the process is opaque and allows regulators and politicians too much discretion. FIBA would add Subchapter V to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to provide an alternative option for resolving large failing banks and bank holding companies using an expedited bankruptcy process that would maintain creditor priority and transparency. The proposed legislation seeks to avoid further financial crisis (such as the one that was caused by Lehman Brothers' six-plus year bankruptcy proceedings).

FIBA provides bankruptcy courts with the authority to transfer certain property, contracts and leases of the failed financial institution to a new bridge company. A qualified and independent trustee would hold the equity securities of the bridge company in trust for the sole benefit of the estate. Some other characteristics of FIBA include:

Before the bill becomes law, it must be approved by the US Senate and then by the President.