A government may wish to bail out a financial institution and provide protection to its creditors for two reasons. First, with respect to depositors or other creditors that are free to withdraw their capital on short notice, a protective government umbrella might be necessary to prevent inefficient “runs” on the institution’s assets that could trigger similar runs at other institutions.
比如在AIG，美银，花旗以及房利美的救助中，公司的债券持有人全部受到照顾，可是公司的股东则损失惨重。英国，欧洲大陆，以及其他的地方也是如此。债券持有人之所以受到救助，是因为各国政府普遍选择以注资而非普通或优先股（从属于债券持有人的利益）的形式，或者以收购和资产价值担保来改善银行资产负债表的方式给与救助。