SVB Financial Group said on Sunday it has entered into an agreement to sell its investment banking division, SVB Securities, to a group led by Jeff Leerink and backed by funds managed by The Baupost Group. The bidder group led by Leerink, who is chief executive of SVB Securities, will acquire the investment banking business for a combination of cash,…

Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) grilled a panel of financial regulators on Thursday morning, with Scott going so far as to demand immediate dismissals at the Federal Reserve in response to the central bank’s failure to effectively regulate Silicon Valley Bank in view of its collapse. During the Senate Banking Committee hearing,…

In a recent analysis, professors Anat Admati, Martin Hellwig, and Richard Portes present a scathing critique of the U.S. banking sector’s systemic issues, brought into focus by the 2023 banking crisis. Their analysis, in particular, centers around the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Republic Bank, highlighting the systemic issues afflicting U.S. banks….

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday, senators denounced the actions of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) CEO Greg Becker, who has been accused of distributing bonuses and selling stock in the bank shortly before its collapse. “In 2022, in particular, you [Becker] paid yourself a $1.5 million cash bonus even as the value of…

Former chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Greg Becker issued a public apology before a Senate committee on Tuesday. Becker expressed deep remorse for the devastating impact suffered by SVB’s employees, clients, and shareholders during the recent financial turmoil that led to the bank’s collapse. “I never envisioned myself or SVB being in this…

First Republic’s shares dropped to all-time lows on April 28 following CNBC reports that the bank is entertaining the possibility of receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The bank’s stock fell by more than 50 percent and trading was halted multiple times throughout the day. CNBC reported that multiple banks were approached by…

“Social media fueled a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and the effects were felt broadly in the U.S. banking industry,” reads the first line of an academic paper discussing the role of social media in last month’s collapse of tech bank SVB. The study, led by J. Anthony Cookson of the University of…

Commentary With the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, much of the financial community seems to think that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will try to ease financial pressures by softening its counter-inflationary policy posture. The Atlanta Fed’s market probability tracker showed a dramatic downward adjustment in people’s expectations of interest rate hikes….

Financial regulators came under scrutiny over what congressional members see as misplaced priorities ahead of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). In a hearing on Wednesday, House Financial Services Committee chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) chastised Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision Michael Barr for making time “to start a review of climate risks in…

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman of the Board of Directors Martin Gruenberg; Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr; and Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang testify at the U.S.  House Financial Services Committee’s  hearing on The Federal Regulators’ Response to Recent Bank Failures at 10:00 a.m. ET on…