SBV with Massachusetts branches seized by FDIC as depositors pull cash

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the assets of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, marking the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual during the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

The FDIC ordered the closure of Silicon Valley Bank and immediately took position of all deposits at the bank. The bank had USD 209 billion in assets and USD 175.4 billion in deposits as the time of failure, the FDIC said in a statement. It was unclear how much of deposits was above the USD 250,000 insurance limit at the moment.

Silicon Valley was heavily exposed to tech industry and there is little chance of contagion in the banking sector as a whole, with major banks holding sufficient capital to avoid a similar situation.

The financial health of Silicon Valley Bank was increasingly in question this week after the bank announced plans to raise up to USD 1.75 billion in order to strengthen its capital position amid concerns about higher interest rates and the economy.