On Monday, President Joe Biden sought to reassure the American people that their bank deposits would be there when they need them, following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the shuttering of Signature Bank.[0] In a statement and during brief remarks from the White House, the president said that the Treasury Secretary and National Economic Council Director had worked over the weekend with banking regulators to address the problems at the two banks, and that no losses would be borne by the taxpayers as a result.[1] “Let me also assure you we will not stop at this,” Biden said.[2] “We will do whatever is needed.”
The president also said that he would ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks, “to make it less likely this kind of bank failure would happen again, and to protect American jobs and small businesses.”[3] Shalanda Young, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, echoed Biden’s remarks, stressing in an interview that the US banking system at large was “more resilient” now.[4]
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also ruled out a federal bailout for Silicon Valley Bank, telling CBS News that “we’re not going to do that again.”[5] The government stated that depositors with accounts at Silicon Valley Bank would have access to all of their money beginning Monday, and that the money would come from fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.[6] Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that the bargain in the US has always been that investors and shareholders lose, and that depositors are protected.[7]
The 40-year-old Silicon Valley Bank had grown to be the 16th-largest bank in the US, catering to the financial needs of technology companies around the world, before a series of ill-fated investment decisions led to its collapse.[5] Reports have also emerged that SVB employees received their annual bonuses hours before regulators seized the failing bank, and that the bank’s CEO had sold $3.6 million in company shares in the weeks before SVB revealed the massive losses that prompted its collapse.[8]
To prevent such a situation from recurring, Biden said he would ask Congress and regulators to strengthen the rules, which he said had been weakened during the Trump administration.[9]
0. “PR-16-2023 3/10/2023” FDIC, 12 Mar. 2023, https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2023/pr23016.html
1. “USDC and BUSD breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to Biden administration” AMBCrypto News, 13 Mar. 2023, https://ambcrypto.com/usdc-and-busd-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-thanks-to-biden-administration/
2. “Watch Live: Biden to deliver remarks in wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse” CBS News, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-watch-live-stream-today-2023-03-13
3. “Biden speaks on banking crisis hoping to reassure Americans” ABC News, 13 Mar. 2023, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-speaks-banking-crisis/story?id=97820883
4. “Biden vows to hold those responsible for Silicon Valley Bank failure ‘fully accountable’” KTVZ, 13 Mar. 2023, https://ktvz.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2023/03/12/treasury-secretary-rules-out-bailout-for-silicon-valley-bank-2/
5. “Rep. Khanna says progressives should be the most concerned amid SVB collapse if Biden admin ‘doesn’t step up’” Fox Business, 12 Mar. 2023, https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/rep-khanna-says-progressives-most-concerned-amid-svb-collapse-biden-admin-doesnt-step-up
6. “Deposits protected as HSBC acquires UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank” The Irish Times, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/2023/03/12/government-on-alert-as-us-races-to-contain-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-fallout/
7. “Biden team scrambles to contain financial and political contagion” CNN, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/13/politics/biden-silicon-valley-bank-politics/index.html
8. “Silicon Valley’s ‘greed and avarice’ have ‘finally come home to roost’ in SVB collapse, trader says” CNBC, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/13/svb-collapse-silicon-valleys-greed-and-avarice-to-blame-trader-says.html
9. “Silicon Valley Bank collapse: Biden speaks Monday on financial sector crisis” NPR, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/13/1163046482/watch-live-biden-discusses-the-silicon-valley-banks-meltdown-and-the-u-s-economy