Last Friday, June 29, 2012, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation the "FDIC") and the Federal Reserve Board (the "Board") announced the process for their receipt and review of the first wave of resolution plans to be provided by nine of the largest banking organizations operating in the United States. These plans are due today, July 2, 2012.

Ultimately, all U.S. and foreign banking organizations with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more will be required to file such plans (or, as they are popularly known, living wills). According to the regulators, 124 banking institutions in total are subject to the living will requirements. The governing regulation places these organizations into three groups, each with a different deadline: (i) those with $250 billion or more in total nonbank assets, which are subject to the July 2, 2012, deadline; (ii) those with $100 billion or more but less than $250 billion in total nonbank assets, which are subject to the July 1, 2013 ; and (iii) those with $50 billion or more but less than $100 billion in nonbank assets, which must file by December 31, 2013. The FDIC and the Board have the authority to re-assign banking organizations to different tiers; we understand anecdotally that one group 1 organization may have been moved to group 2. Nonbank financial institutions designated as systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the "Council") will also be required to submit resolution plans, but the Council has not yet made any designations.