Judges typically will only allowbail pending appeal for a defendant who has been sentenced to prison when there are significant questions of law associated with the verdict.
When the crisis first struck, the commission's competition regulators relaxed their rules on state aid to allow the bail-out of banks and to help firms that suddenly faced a dearth of credit.
Then he required the French government to give its aid to Alstom in the form of debt, rather than through the purchase of shares in the firm, so that the aid could be reclaimed should he refuse to allow the bail-out.
Without the resolution regime, regulators might face the same unappetising choices they had in 2008: allow the firm to go bankrupt (like Lehman Brothers) or bail it out (like AIG).
If American taxpayers bail out California, Congress should insist that California eliminate redundant regulators and allow citizens cheaper power and lower taxes.
The UK has welcomed plans set out by the European Commission to move towards a common "banking union" across the eurozone - which could allow central authorities to intervene before a bank gets into trouble to prevent taxpayers having to bail it out later on.