Silicon Valley Bank risk chief gap glaring post-collapse

Kim Olson was only announced as the appointee to the role at parent company SVB Financial Group on Jan. 4. She joined with an established track record of 30 years of experience in financial services, including her previous time as Americas risk chief for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Instead, focus on the actions of the bank preceding Olson’s hiring—specifically, the gap that existed in the role. Laura Izurieta, SVB’s former chief risk officer, left the bank in October, according to a proxy filing earlier this month. She ceased serving as risk chief in April 2022.

For the eight months—from April 29 to Dec. 27, when Olson joined the company—SVB went without an established chief risk officer, the company’s risk senior leadership held the responsibilities of the role. “Given the significance of the position of the chief risk officer, it was important to the company that the transition be facilitated in a manner that supported continuity and retention within the risk organization as we searched for a new chief risk officer,” SVB said in its March 3 filing.

A week later, the bank would be shuttered by its regulators.

As quick as SVB went under, with its March 8 press release seeking capital prompting the bank run that led to its closure by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation on Friday, there will surely be longer-term cracks in the façade of the bank uncovered in the days and weeks ahead that explain how things abruptly spiraled. SVB was a darling to the California tech community, which itself has a volatile nature, and therefore should have anticipated how anxious its customers would be at even the slightest sign of distress.

If SVB truly had continuity in its risk oversight, the decisions the bank made last week might have played out different. Regulators also share some brunt of the blame. In the end, the bank moves on under the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Though chief risk officer is one role within a company, recent years have illustrated its importance. Some financial institutions, including Barclays and Danske Bank, have promoted their risk chiefs to chief executive officer during times of turmoil. Others, like Credit Suisse, overhauled the position after paying the price for missed red flags that led to significant losses.

SVB doesn’t seem as if it will be around to make such a course correction, but other banks can take note while weathering the negative effects that come with such a significant industry failure. Regulators will look to the chief risk officer’s role and hold it against the business if it proves to not be empowered.

And if there is no risk chief at all for a lengthy period, there might not be a business to hold accountable.