Regulators swooped in the middle of the day to seize the bank’s assets, in a sign of how quickly the bank fell into trouble. Investors in London are said to be « spooked ».
US regulators have shut down the country’s 16th largest bank, in the biggest collapse of a financial institution since the 2008 financial crisis.
Silicon Valley Bank failed after depositors – mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies – began withdrawing their money, creating a run on the bank.
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has seized its assets.
It said the bank had $209 billion (£173 billion) in assets and $175.4 billion (£146 billion) in deposits at the time of failure.
It was unclear how many of the deposits were above the $250,000 dollar (£207,000) insurance limit.
The bank’s downfall marks the largest failure of a US bank since Washington Mutual during the 2008 financial crisis.
The FDIC could not immediately find a buyer for the bank’s assets, signalling how fast depositors had cashed out.
It also seized the bank’s assets in the middle of the business day, a sign of how dire the situation had become.
