Commentary
This was undoubtedly the week that was. Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) failure sent the markets into the worst turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis. And, as I write this Friday morning, St. Patrick’s Day, there are “little fires everywhere” in regional banks that have unsettled markets. Most of them could have been avoided.
What Happened
SVB, the sixteenth largest bank in the United States, catered primarily to an elite cadre of venture capitalists and wealthy individuals. As of December 31, 2022, it held over $26 billion in assets held for sale (AFS) and another $91.3 billion in assets held to maturity (HTM). Some 94 percent of SVB’s deposits were largely venture capital (VC) funds, and their portfolio companies were largely uninsured….