Regulators Shut Down Silicon Valley Bank

    Regulators Shut Down Silicon Valley Bank
    Photo: NPR Online News

    The Facts

    • Financial regulators have closed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and taken control of its deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), marking the largest US bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

    • As California regulators shut down the tech lender, the FDIC has taken over the receiver. The FDIC will likely liquidate the bank’s assets to back its customers, and the agency says all insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits no later than Monday.


    The Spin

    Pro-establishment narrative

    While there is a fear that SVB’s collapse is a sign of a financial crisis similar to that of 2008, that is not the case. The problems that faced SVB were company-specific and tied specifically to the tech sector. The banking sector as a whole is stable, and there is no need to worry about a new financial crisis.

    Establishment-critical narrative

    SVB’s collapse was not surprising to anyone other than the global markets and so-called “experts.” Rising interest rates have caused massive losses that happen to have dramatically hit SVB first, but the problem is not isolated to SVB. Just like SVB, other banks will look to sweep their losses under the rug and we will continue to see the largest collapses since 2008.


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