DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's collapse sent this tech founder into a 3-day panic, leading him to question: 'Am I good enough to do what I do?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tech CEO Alexander Torrenegra detailed his experience as he watched Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Ask my wife, Tania, to wire all of our personal money out to other banks. By Friday morning, SVB stock had fallen 60%, and US regulators assumed control of the bank. Meanwhile, he said only a "portion" of his personal savings was safe as the transaction was still in a bank queue. "We may recover most of the money," Torrenegra wrote regarding his personal savings.

[1/2] A sign for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters is seen in Santa Clara, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Nathan Frandino/File Photo/File PhotoMarch 13 (Reuters) - SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) and two top executives were sued on Monday by shareholders who accused them of concealing how rising interest rates would leave its Silicon Valley Bank unit, which failed last week, "particularly susceptible" to a bank run. It appeared to be the first of many likely lawsuits over the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, which U.S. regulators seized on March 10 following a surge of deposit withdrawals. Silicon Valley Bank had an estimated $209 billion of assets and $175.4 billion of deposits before its collapse, in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. The case is Vanipenta v SVB Financial Group et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

☆ Why Trump is being called out in the Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Democrats have been blaming Trump-era regulations for Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. In 2018, Trump signed into law a bill that rolled back provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act and loosened oversight over banks. On Friday, regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank following a tumultuous few days of failing to raise capital and a flood of customers withdrawing their funds from the bank. "Greg Becker, the chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank, was one of the ‌many high-powered executives who lobbied Congress to weaken the law," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a Monday opinion piece. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement that the "failure of Silicon Valley Bank is a direct result of an absurd 2018 bank deregulation bill signed by Donald Trump that I strongly opposed."

☆ Why Silicon Valley Bank failed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Silicon Valley Bank made a bold call on where to invest cash. SVB deposits soarSVB's position as the go-to bank in tech made it a huge beneficiary of the Silicon Valley boom through the last few years. Rubinstein notes:"Driven by the boom in venture capital funding, many of Silicon Valley Bank's customers became flush with cash over 2020 and 2021. Here's Rubinstein again:"The problem at Silicon Valley Bank is compounded by its relatively concentrated customer base. And Silicon Valley Bank doesn't have that many of them.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank workers were paid bonuses just hours before it collapsed, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Silicon Valley Bank workers received bonuses just hours before the bank collapsed, CNBC reported. The bank usually paid annual bonuses on the second Friday of March, per the report. The FDIC emailed an unknown number of SVB employees, offering them employment for the next 45 days, Bloomberg reported. According to a 2019 Bloomberg report, SVB employees were paid an average of $250,683, making the bank the highest-paying publicly traded bank the previous year. Silicon Valley Bank didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

☆ Hundreds of venture capital firms vow to work with Silicon Valley Bank again if new owner is found
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than three hundred venture capital firms have signed a joint statement vowing to do business again with Silicon Valley Bank if it is "purchased and appropriately capitalized," after the financial institution failed on Friday. The SVB failure marks the largest in U.S. banking since the 2008 financial crisis and the second-largest ever. Some venture firms withdrew their own money and instructed their portfolio companies to withdraw their deposits from SVB before the run. The joint statement was shared by many individual venture capitalists on social networks following the bank failure. It said:Silicon Valley Bank has been a trusted and long-time partner to the venture capital industry and our founders.

☆ 3 Failed Banks This Year Were Bigger Than 25 That Crumbled in 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Karl Russell | Christine Zhang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The three banks that failed this year were worth more in inflation-adjusted assets than the 25 that collapsed in 2008. Before Silicon Valley Bank, the last bank to fail was in late 2020, as the coronavirus was ravaging the country. First Republic Bank ranks 14th, Silicon Valley Bank ranks 16th and Signature Bank ranks 29th. Silicon Valley Bank’s chief executive, Greg Becker, was a strong supporter of the move. In a review of the Fed’s oversight of Silicon Valley Bank released on Friday, Michael S. Barr, the central bank’s vice chair for supervision, said the Fed would “re-evaluate” its rules for banks that were similar in size to Silicon Valley Bank.

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - Greg Becker, the chief executive of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O) , sent a video message to employees acknowledging the "incredibly difficult" 48 hours leading up to the collapse of its Silicon Valley Bank on Friday. "It's with an incredibly heavy heart that I'm here to deliver this message," he said in a video seen by Reuters. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp was named receiver of Silicon Valley Bank after California banking regulators closed it on Friday. He asked employees to "hang around, try to support each other, try to support our clients, work together" to get a better outcome for the company. Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York and Pete Schroeder in Washington; Editing by Megan Davies, Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

After a bank run of $42 billion in withdrawals, Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by regulators on Friday. The founders were banking at Silicon Valley Bank and wanted to switch banks immediately after being told by their venture investors that the bank was suffering from "liquidity issues." The go-to bank of Silicon ValleySilicon Valley Bank has been a pillar of the startup of ecosystem for four decades, acting as the go-to financial institution for VC fundraising and building strong ties with founders and investors alike. This helped bolster SVB's reputation as the go-to bank of Silicon Valley in the good times, but exacerbated the crisis when it hit Thursday and Friday. "If you're given responsibility to run this iconic Silicon Valley company, you need some humility."

☆ Silicon Valley Bank employees received bonuses hours before government takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Silicon Valley Bank employees received their annual bonuses Friday just hours before regulators seized the failing bank, according to people with knowledge of the payments. The size of the payouts couldn't be determined, but SVB bonuses range from about $12,000 for associates to $140,000 for managing directors, according to Glassdoor.com. SVB was the highest-paying publicly traded bank in 2018, with employees getting an average of $250,683 for that year, according to Bloomberg. After its seizure, the FDIC offered SVB employees 45 days of employment, the people said. A spokesman for the FDIC declined to comment on the bonuses.

☆ Venture capitalists are blaming each other for triggering the disastrous collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has sent shockwaves through the tech industry. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank sent startup founders reeling on Friday as many lost access to their funds. In the wake of the abrupt collapse, venture capitalists are blaming each other for playing a role in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Ultimately, that's exactly what happened, Mark Suster, a manager partner at Upfront Ventures, told Insider on Friday. "This emergency was not helped by investors going into a frenzy and orchestrating a bank run," she told Insider.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's demise began with downgrade threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Echo Wang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Investors worry that the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate increases to fight inflation are exposing vulnerabilities in the financial system. The transaction would generate a loss, but if SVB could fill that funding hole by selling shares, it would avoid a multi-notch downgrade, the sources said. Moody's downgraded the bank, but only by a notch because of SVB's bond portfolio sale and plan to raise capital. SVB's stock plunged on news of the share sale, ending Thursday down 60% at $106.04. This quickly became a self-fulfilling prophecy: General Atlantic and other investors walked away and the stock sale collapsed.

In this photo illustration of the TradingView stock market chart of SVB Financial Group seen displayed on a smartphone with the SVB Financial Group logo in the background. Shares of SVB Financial Group , known as Silicon Valley Bank, tumbled for a second day Friday and weighed on the whole banking sector again on fears more banks would incur heavy losses on their bond portfolios. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF was off another 1.5% Friday following an 8% tumble on Thursday. Signature Bank , which does a lot of business with the crypto sector, was off 4% in premarket trading following a 12% tumble Thursday. On Thursday, the bank was worth $6.3 billion with that value set to drop even more when trading begins Friday.

☆ The implosion of Silicon Valley's largest bank has investors worried worse is to come: 'There might be some kind of crack in the financial system'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | James Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The implosion of the California lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate has investors worried. Christopher Whalen, the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, a financial consultancy, said Silicon Valley Bank was "just the tip of the iceberg." He added that the situation at Silicon Valley Bank was "a reminder that many institutions are sitting on large unrealized losses" on bond holdings. Mould said the "fire sale" of Silicon Valley Bank's bond portfolio raised broader concerns. Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday implored customers to "stay calm" in an apparent bid to stave off further mass withdrawals and avert collapse.

☆ The Second-Biggest Bank Failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Karl Russell | Christine Zhang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

A bar chart of U.S. bank failures since 2001, showing that Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse was the second-biggest in U.S. history in terms of assets. Before Silicon Valley Bank, the last firm to fail was in late 2020, as the coronavirus was ravaging the country. It’s unclear whether the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will spread to the broader industry. Silicon Valley Bank 209 17. Silicon Valley Bank 209 Fifth Third Bank 17.

☆ Premarket stocks: The Fed wants to limit wage growth. That's particularly bad for women
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Never-married women earned just 92% of what never-married men did last year, according to the Wells Fargo report. Those wage gaps are “persistently disappointing,” ADP’s Chief Economist Nela Richardson told CNN on Thursday. Markets suffer: Companies with smaller gender pay gaps tend to be rewarded by their shareholders. “The gender pay gap is informing investment strategies,” wrote Refinitiv analysts in a recent report. “Our recent analysis shows that [shares of] companies with no gender pay gap outperform companies with pay gaps between male and female employees,” wrote Refinitiv.

☆ Wondering what the hell just happened at SVB? Here's everything you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Silicon Valley Bank, a once-trusted banker to startups, was closed down by regulators on Friday. SVB became the latest casualty of a bank run as VCs and founders rushed to protect their funds. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. The bank had already been experiencing headwinds from "continued higher interest rates, pressured public and private markets, and elevated cash burn," Greg Becker, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, wrote to investors on Wednesday. As part of the closure, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that helps insure customers' bank funds, has now taken control of SVB.

☆ CEO of failed Silicon Valley Bank no longer a director at SF Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 10 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of failed Silicon Valley Bank, Greg Becker, is no longer on the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The spokesperson declined to say how Becker exited the San Francisco Fed board. Becker served as a Class A director at the San Francisco Fed, one of three finance executives representing member banks in the San Francisco Fed district. The 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are quasi-private institutions overseen by the Fed in Washington. The directors of the Fed banks have been in the spotlight in recent years as the central bank has faced criticism that bank directors lacked racial and gender diversity and were too weighted towards the business and banking community.

☆ European banking stocks sink as Silicon Valley Bank jitters spread
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

European banking stocks sold off sharply in early trade Friday as jitters surrounding U.S. bank SVB Financial — which plunged 60% Thursday — spread around the world. It followed an announcement by the tech-focused lender of a capital raise to help offset bond sale losses. The Euro Stoxx Banks index was on pace for its worst day since June, led by a decline of more-than 8% for Deutsche Bank . Silicon Valley Bank caters heavily to startup firms, particularly venture-backed tech and life sciences companies in the U.S. "If private capital can't provide a solution, a highly dilutive gov't preferred bailout should be considered."

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman calls on the US government to consider a bailout of Silicon Valley Bank if private investors won't step up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ackman called on the government for a "highly dilutive" Silicon Valley Bank bailout if the private sector doesn't step up. SVB is a go-to bank and lender to startups in the tech sector and a crucial part of the ecosystem. Greg Becker, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, told clients to "stay calm" at a conference call on Thursday, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The events spurred concerns among tech VCs and founders about Silicon Valley Bank's financial stability. Silicon Valley Bank did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ How SVB employees are coping after being ordered to leave the office, from polishing their resumes to hitting the bar: 'We're pretty much in the dark'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | Rebecca Ungarino | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It read: "Operations of the SVB Securities broker dealer are distinct from the receivership of SVB Financial." The SVB Securities employee called the whirlwind leading up to SVB's meltdown as "scary, scary stuff." Kevin Heal, senior analyst at Argus Research, said he sees both SVB Securities and SVB Private being sold. SVB bought the healthcare investment bank Leerink Partners in 2018, renaming it SVB Leerink and then SVB Securities. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty ImagesHeal thinks the investment banking operations could be purchased by a smaller investment banking firm that doesn't have tech or healthcare prowess, like US Bancorp or PNC.

☆ Big bank selloff rests on tiny kernel of truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The travails of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) are rippling across the global banking system, wiping billions off the market capitalisations of HSBC (HSBA.L), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and JPMorgan (JPM.N). It’s nonetheless a useful reminder that rising interest rates bring risks as well as benefits. The trigger for the selloff seems to have been a $1.8 billion equity issue by SVB Financial, which does business as Silicon Valley Bank. Shrinking deposits saw Chief Executive Greg Becker sell down a $21 billion portfolio of Treasury and agency mortgage bonds. As interest rates rise banks are charging more for loans.

☆ Analysts downgrade SVB Financial as uncertainty around tech-focused bank looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Several Wall Street research firms downgraded SVB Financial after shares of the tech-focused bank plunged more than 60% during the previous trading session. King also lowered his price target to $100 from $174, which implies a 6% decline from Thursday's close price. The analyst expressed concern that the proposed capital raise would potentially be followed by more in the future. Long also removed his price target, which was previously $375. It had previously issued an outperform rating and price target of $360 per share.

March 10 (Reuters) - Greg Becker, the chief executive officer who presided over the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, joined the company three decades ago as a loan officer. Becker graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor's degree in business, according to Silicon Valley Bank's website. When his manager left to work for Silicon Valley Bank, Becker followed, he said in 2021 on a Bloomberg podcast. Representatives for Silicon Valley Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Before becoming president and CEO of SVB Financial Group, Becker co-founded SVB Capital, the company's investment arm.

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Nearly three years with no U.S. bank failures just came to an unseemly end. The bank owned by SVB Financial (SIVB.O) relied more heavily on large, and therefore, uninsured, deposits than other banks. A buyer – say, a bank that covets SVB’s relationship with upwardly mobile entrepreneurs – might swoop in and buy the whole thing. Other depositors would receive certificates of receivership, which entitle them to dividends payable from the proceeds of selling the bank’s assets. SVB had around $165 billion in deposits as of Feb. 28, it said in a presentation on March 8.

Search resuls for: "Greg Becker"

25 mentions found