The US lender, CIT Group, has filed for bankruptcy¹ protection, after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed.

在与债券持有人融资失败之后，美国金融出贷方CIT集团申请破产保护。

However, the majority of bondholders（债券持有者） have agreed a reorganisation（重组） plan that will reduce CIT's debt by $10bn (£6bn) while allowing it to go on operating.

The group's operating subsidiaries（子公司，附属机构）, including CIT Bank, were not included in the bankruptcy filing in New York.

CIT Group suffered as the credit crisis（信用危机） left it unable to fund itself, and the recession exposed it to many bad loans（坏账，不良贷款）.

Under the reorganisation plan which has been approved by bondholders, creditors² will end up owning the company.

Most bondholders will also end up with new CIT debt worth about 70% of the face value of their old debt. Preferred shareholders³, including the US government, will get money only after other creditors are paid back.

The government invested $2.33bn in CIT shares in December 2008 through the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp). It could have lost more, however, had it not declined to give more aid this year.

"The decision to proceed with our plan of reorganisation will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle market customers, two sectors⁴ that remain vitally important to the US economy," said CIT's chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Peek⁵, who will step down by the end of the year.

CIT's bankruptcy protection filing, showing $71bn in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9bn, is one of the biggest in US corporate⁶ history.

Analysts⁷ say it is unclear what this will mean for US small and medium-sized businesses, many of which depend on CIT for loans.