CIT Group Inc. (CIT) said Sunday that its board of directors and nearly all its debt holders had approved a prepackaged plan to file for bankruptcy protection to allow the century-old commercial lender to restructure its $31 billion debt load and streamline its capital structure.

The struggling lender said that none of its operating units, including its Utah state bank CIT Bank, will be part of the bankruptcy, which will comprise only the parent company, CIT Group Inc., and CIT Group Funding Company of Delaware. The lender has filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York.

CIT said that about 90% of bondholders approved the prepackaged bankruptcy plan, which will allow the lender to reduce its debt by about $10 billion, cut its liquidity requirements over the next three years, improve its capital ratios and "accelerate its return to profitability." CIT had also asked bondholders to vote on a debt swap plan, but it said in the release Sunday that it didn't get enough votes to go ahead with that plan.

"The decision to proceed with our plan of reorganization will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle market customers, two sectors that remain vitally important to the U.S. economy,” said Jeffrey M. Peek, Chairman and CEO