Silicon Valley Bank closed by banking regs after historic collapse

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced the closure, citing in a press release the bank’s “inadequate liquidity and insolvency.”

Founded in 1983 and based in Santa Clara, Calif., Silicon Valley Bank specialized in loans to the innovation economy but struggled recently with a run on deposits. The bank had total assets of $209 billion and total deposits worth $175.4 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022, the DFPI said.

In attempting to stave off closure, SVB Financial Group, the bank’s parent company, announced Wednesday it was seeking buyers for $1.25 billion in common stock and $500 million of depository shares. In the same announcement, the bank said it reached an agreement with equity investor General Atlantic to purchase $500 million of the bank’s common stock, and that the bank had additionally sold off $21 billion in securities at a loss.

The bank’s stock began rapidly dropping Thursday.

As part of its role as the bank’s receiver, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB). All FDIC-insured deposits have been transferred to the DINB, the agency said in a press release.

All 17 of Silicon Valley Bank’s branches in California and Massachusetts will open Monday under control of the DINB, including online banking and other services. Checks will continue to clear as usual when the bank reopens under the receivership, the FDIC said.

While deposits up to $250,000 are insured, funds over that amount “will receive a receivership certificate for the remaining amount of their uninsured funds,” the FDIC said.

It is still unclear the amount of uninsured deposits in the bank, the FDIC said.

Silicon Valley Bank is the first FDIC-insured institution to fail since 2020. It is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, behind the 2008 closing of Seattle-based Washington Mutual.

Silicon Valley Bank did not respond to a request for comment.