Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, attends the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report Press Conference, at the Bank of England, London, Britain, February 2, 2023.
LONDON — Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Tuesday vowed to be "very vigilant" amid ongoing volatility and suggested that the market is "testing out" banks to find weaknesses.
Global banking stocks have taken a beating in March, as contagion fears spread following the collapse of U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank — the largest bank failure since the financial crisis — and the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse by Swiss rival UBS .
Deutsche recovered partially on Monday to lead gains as the market panic appeared to subside, after First Citizens agreed to buy a large chunk of failed Silicon Valley Bank's assets.
"I also think what we saw at the tail end of last week, Friday in particular, when there were quite sharp market movements [were] moves in markets to, if you like, test out firms," Bailey told lawmakers.