No federal bailout in case of Silicon Valley bank failure: Yellen

WILMINGTON, Delaware – The U.S. government took emergency action Sunday in an attempt to prevent increased instability among banks following the historic bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, assuring customers of the bankrupt financial institution that they will be able to get all their money back quickly.

The announcement came amid concerns that the factors that caused the bank in Santa Clara, Calif., could spread, and just hours before the opening of trading in Asia. Regulators worked through the weekend to try to find a buyer for the bank or an intermediary for another intervention, while another bank, Signature Bank, was closed. The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC said Sunday that all Silicon Valley Bank customers will be protected and have access to their funds, and announced steps to protect the bank’s customers and prevent new bank runs. “This step ensures that the U.S. banking system will continue to perform its vital functions of protecting deposits and providing access to credit to households and businesses in a way that fosters strong and sustainable economic growth,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

Regulators were forced to rush to shut down Silicon Valley Bank, a financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets, on Friday after it experienced a traditional bank run, when depositors rushed to withdraw their funds at once. It is the second largest bank failure in US history, after Washington Mutual in 2008.

Some prominent Silicon Valley executives feared that if Washington did not bail out the failing bank, customers will make runs at other financial institutions in the coming days. Other banks that serve technology companies, including First Republic Bank and PacWest Bank, have seen their share prices fall over the past few days.

Among the bank’s clients are a number of companies in the wine industry in California, where many wineries rely on loans from Silicon Valley Bank, as well as technology startups that fight climate change.

Sunrun, which sells and leases solar energy systems, had less than $80 million in cash deposits with Silicon Valley Bank as of Friday and expects to have more information about the expected recovery next week, the company said in a statement.

Stitchfix, the popular clothing retail website, disclosed in a recent quarterly report that it had a line of credit of up to $100 million with Silicon Valley Bank and other lenders.

This is the most important news. The earlier story is below.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the federal government would not help Silicon Valley Bankbut works to help depositors who care about their money.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits up to $250,000, but many companies and wealthy individuals who used the bank — known for its relationships with tech startups and venture capital — had more than that amount in their accounts. There are fears that some workers across the country will not be paid.

In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Yellen gave some details about the government’s next steps. But she emphasized it the situation was much different since the financial crisis nearly 15 years ago, which led to bank bailouts to protect the industry.

“We’re not going to do it again,” she said. “But we’re concerned about depositors and focused on meeting their needs.”

Wall Street rumbledYellen tried to assure Americans that there will be no domino effect after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

“The American banking system is really safe and well capitalized,” she said. “It’s resilient.”

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Silicon Valley Bank is the 16th largest bank in the country. It was the second major bank failure in U.S. history, following the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008. The bank has served primarily technology workers and venture capital-backed companies, including some of the industry’s best-known brands.

The Silicon Valley bank became insolvent when its customers, mostly technology companies that needed money as they struggled for funding, began withdrawing their deposits. The bank was forced to sell bonds at a loss to cover withdrawals, leading to the biggest failure of a US financial institution since the height of the financial crisis.

Yellen described the rising interest rates that have been increased by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation as a major challenge for Silicon Valley Bank. Many of its assets, such as bonds or mortgage-backed securities, lost market value as rates rose.

“The problems with the technology sector are not the core of this bank’s problems,” she said.

Yellen said she expects regulators to consider “a wide range of available options,” including the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank by another institution. However, no buyer has yet come forward.

Tom Quadman, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said in a statement that “we urge the administration to facilitate a swift acquisition by ensuring all bank depositors have access to their cash.”

Regulators seized the bank’s assets on Friday. Deposits insured by the federal government should be available by Monday morning.

“I worked all weekend with our banking regulators to develop appropriate policies to address this situation,” Yellen said. “I cannot provide more details at this time.”

President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke of “efforts to resolve the situation” on Saturday, though the White House did not provide further details on next steps.

Newsom said the goal is to “stabilize the situation as quickly as possible to protect jobs, people’s livelihoods and the entire innovation ecosystem that has served as a tentpole for our economy.”