London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, May 11, 2025

Silicon Valley Bank Urges Clients To "Stay Calm" After 60% Stock Tumble

Silicon Valley Bank Urges Clients To "Stay Calm" After 60% Stock Tumble

The immediate risk for many banks may not be existential, according to analysts, but it could still be painful.
Silvergate Capital Corp.'s abrupt shutdown and SVB Financial Group's hasty fundraising have sent US bank stocks diving and tongues wagging across the industry: Could this be the start of a much bigger problem?

The issue at both of the once-highflying California lenders was an unusually fickle base of depositors who yanked money quickly. But below that is a crack reaching across finance: Rising interest rates have left banks laden with low-interest bonds that can't be sold in a hurry without losses. So if too many customers tap their deposits at once, it risks a vicious cycle.

Across the investing world, "people are asking who is the next one?" said Jens Nordvig, founder of market analytics and data intelligence companies Exante Data and Market Reader. "I am getting lots of questions about this from my clients."

Indeed, amid deposit withdrawals at SVB, its chief executive officer urged customers on Thursday to "stay calm."

The immediate risk for many banks may not be existential, according to analysts, but it could still be painful. Rather than facing a major run on deposits, banks will be forced to compete harder for them by offering higher interest payments to savers. That would erode what banks earn on lending, slashing earnings.

Small- and mid-sized banks, where funding is usually less diversified, may come under particular pressure, forcing them to sell more stock and dilute current investors.

'Terrible Kicking'

"Silicon Valley Bank is just the tip of the iceberg," said Christopher Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, a financial consulting firm. "I'm not worried about the big guys but a lot of the small guys are going to take a terrible kicking," he said. "Many of them will have to raise equity."

Every bank in the S&P 500 Financials Index tracking major US firms slumped on Thursday, taking the benchmark down 4.1% - its worst day since mid-2020. Santa Clara-based SVB tumbled 60%, while First Republic Bank in San Francisco fell 17%.

Another S&P index tracking mid-size financials dropped 4.7%. The worse performer there was Beverly Hills-based PacWest Bancorp, down 25%.

Ironically, many equity investors had piled into financial stocks to ride out the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes, betting it would pave the way for lenders to earn more. For them, this week has been a shock.

"The cost of deposits rising is old news, we've seen that pressure," said Chris Marinac, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott. But suddenly "the market has really focused on it because there's an obvious surprise with the capital raise from Silicon Valley Bank."

SVB announced the stock offering as its clients - firms backed by venture capital - withdrew deposits after burning through their funding. The lender liquidated substantially all of the securities available for sale in its portfolio and updated a forecast for the year to include a sharper decline in net interest income.

Hours after CEO Greg Becker urged clients to "stay calm" on a conference call Thursday, news broke that a number of prominent venture capital firms, including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, were advising portfolio companies to pull money as a precaution.

At Silvergate the problem was a run on deposits that began last year, when clients - cryptocurrency ventures - withdrew cash to weather the collapse of the FTX digital-asset exchange. After losses from rapidly selling securities, the firm announced plans Wednesday to wind down operations and liquidate.

US bank stocks also came under pressure this week after KeyCorp warned about the mounting pressure to reward savers. The regional lender lowered its forecast for growing net interest income in the current fiscal year to 1% to 4%, down from 6% to 9%, because of the "competitive pricing environment." Its stock fell 7% on Thursday.

'More Insulated'

Regulators talk openly about spending less time policing the balance sheets of small banks, giving them room to innovate, with some dabbling in financial-technology platforms or cryptocurrencies.

Authorities have instead devoted much of their time and attention since the 2008 financial crisis to ensuring the stability of large "systemically important" banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp.

They've forced the biggest lenders to hold ever-larger amounts of capital aside - sometimes over the loud complaints of bankers - so that their health would be beyond reproach at moments like this. Smaller lenders by contrast have been handled with "a very light-touch approach," Michael Barr, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, said during a speech Thursday.

"There are obviously larger institutions that are also exposed to these risks too, but the exposure tends to be a very small part of their balance sheet," he said. "So even if they experience the same deposit outflows, they are more insulated."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump's Upcoming Visit to Gulf Nations: Investment and Security at the Forefront
Rodrigo Duterte Awaits Trial at The Hague. Next week he might be elected mayor of his hometown
Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say
Retired British police officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
Cardinal Robert Prevost Elected as Pope Leo XIV, Marking a Historic Papacy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility Amid Congressional Visit
India-Pakistan conflict may be first test for Chinese military tech
Bill Gates Announces Plan to Wind Down Philanthropic Foundation and Disperse Wealth
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
×