I'm firmly in the 'let them fail' camp. I realize this would have severe consequences in the short to mid-term, but we've been bailing out, in some form or another, poorly managed banks since at least the panics of the gilded age, and even after countless major iterations, I feel the system is broken to the extent it should be replaced sooner rather than later.
Most modern bailouts fail to enforce any sort of accountability on those responsible for irresponsible policies that threatened insolvency. Board members and senior executives are retaining their positions and compensation, or benefiting from golden parachutes, when their heads should roll.
And of course this is ideologically driven. What isn't? I have a big problem with a system that allows gains to be privatized while socializing losses. It's good for no one in the long term, except bankers and those getting kickbacks from them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for regulating and monitoring this stuff and holding both organisations
and individuals accountable for failures.
If it was up to me, I'd create some kind of national "Financial Insurance Institute" which would audit any bank that wanted to join.
Banks with a diverse, ethical, portfolio of interests would score points whereas banks that operate solely within financial markets and/or in sketchy markets wouldn't.
Equally, banks with respectable staff would gain points whereas banks with staff who have a string of failures behind them woudn't.
Also, banks with good procedures in place to regulate their own businesses - and a proven record of following those procedures - would score points while others wouldn't score points.
Banks that scored sufficiently highly in
all aspects would be granted membership of my FII and would be eligible for government support in the event of a financial crisis.
Banks that weren't members
might be eligible for support upon completion of an emergency audit.
Banks that had been denied membership would not be eligible for support.
Membership of my FII would be a strong incentive for customers to use those banks in preference to non-member banks which would encourage banks to operate in an ethical manner in order to become a member of my FII and attract new customers.
It would also create a situation where, as members of my FII, the government would gain an insight into what member banks were doing and allow plans to be made in case of emergencies
and provide an opportunity for "adjustment" if a bank started to act in a manner likely to cause problems later on.
And, of course, if a bank (or it's customers) doesn't like the idea of government oversight then they'd be perfectly free to remain completely independent - with the risk of no support in a time of emergency.