1. The process a government uses to swap out floating stock or short-term bonds for long-term bonds. Because floating stock does not guarantee payout or a fixed rate of interest, swapping it for funded debt (long-term bonds that carry a fixed rate of interest) introduces more stability into the government's financing of its national debt.
   
   
2. The process a company uses to convert its capital funding from short-term to long-term debt instruments.

In July of 2009, amid the lingering global credit crisis, Sheila Bair, Chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) weighed in on the creation of a Financial Services Oversight Council to prevent a recurrence of the global economic meltdown and credit market freeze of 2007-2008. As part of the proposed Council's work, it was suggested that financial companies be subject to rules that would require them to issue short-term debt that would automatically convert to long-term debt under certain conditions such as during a liquidity crisis.