The bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank took a toll on banking stocks last week, including the nation’s biggest banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
It is feared that this situation, which also causes concern in other countries, will start a ‘new wave of bankruptcy’.
While the bankruptcy of the Bank of Silicon Valley (SVB) went down in history as the “largest bank failure in the United States” since the financial crisis in 2008, there are concerns that it will trigger a “wave of bankruptcy” in the banking industry.
The bankruptcy news of the bank, which came at a time when interest rate hikes continued in the face of high inflation and recession expectations increased, further increased the concerns in global markets.
After pricing that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would raise the policy rate to a point above expectations, some banks had to realize the losses in their bond positions.
SHARE PRICE LOSE OVER 60 PERCENT
California-based SVB, one of these banks, announced that it will raise more than $2 billion on March 8 after closing its $21 billion bond position with a loss of approximately $1.8 billion.
SVB’s share price has tumbled by more than 60 percent in the past week, as the market heard that the bank was stuck with liquidity.
PANIC INCREASED THE BANK’S LOSSES
Operations were suspended as the bank continued to lose after some venture capital investors advised companies to withdraw their money from the bank.
The rapid collapse of the SVB forced banking regulators to take action, and the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced on March 10 that it had appointed a trustee to the SVB, causing the markets to plummet.
Industry experts were also stunned by the FDIC’s decision to appoint a trustee to the bank, which it generally announced after the stock market closure, in order to limit the possible losses of customers, in the middle of the day.
The panic caused by venture capitals while trying to overcome the liquidity crisis dragged the 16th largest bank of the USA into one of the biggest bankruptcies in the country’s history within 48 hours.
LAST HAPPENED IN 2008
The largest such bankruptcy was experienced by Washington Mutual during the 2008 crisis.
Washington Mutual, which had 43,000 employees, 2,200 branches and $188.3 billion in deposits in late 2007, went bankrupt when the housing crisis erupted in the United States.
The bank’s operations were sold to JPMorgan Chase after Washington Mutual customers’ withdrawals of $16.7 billion within 10 days drove the bank into bankruptcy. Customers with uninsured deposits of the bank did not lose their money.
The bankruptcy of SVB, whose most of its deposits are not insured by the FDIC, could cause more pain for its clients than Washington Mutual’s bankruptcy.
THE TECHNOLOGY WORLD IS IN SHOCK
Founded in 1983 and specializing in technology industry banking, SVB often provided financing to startups and venture capitals.
The bankruptcy of SVB, which includes companies such as Shopify, ZipRecruiter and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, caused a shock wave in the tech world.
The FDIC established the Santa Clara National Bank of Deposit Insurance (DINB) to protect SVB’s insured depositors and reported that all SVB insured deposits were transferred there. In the statement made by the FDIC, it was stated that customers can access their insured deposits by Monday morning at the latest.
In the news in the US press, it was noted that more than 93 percent of the $161 billion invested in the SVB was not insured by the FDIC.
The FDIC reported that future dividend payments may be made to uninsured depositors as the bank’s assets are sold.
Experts say the bank’s bankruptcy could have far-reaching implications for the tech world and worry for banks.
DECREASE AND INTERESTS IN CRYPTO COINS ARE ALSO EFFECTIVE
Aggressive interest rate hikes by the Fed in the face of high inflation hit the SVB hard as well as the technology sector.
The high debt levels of many companies in the tech sector, especially startups, have left these companies and their ecosystems vulnerable to interest rate hikes.
As companies faced higher borrowing costs, venture capital and other riskier types of investments also became less profitable.
The decline in cryptocurrencies also negatively affected many technology companies.
Many companies, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta, Google’s parent company Alphabet and tech giants like Amazon, had to go out of business.
As high interest rates made it more costly to raise funds for many startups, some SVB clients began withdrawing their money to meet their liquidity needs. This caused the SVB to look for ways to meet the withdrawals and to sell bonds.