First Republic sits on shaky ground following $30bn bailout

Shares dropped 90% in past month

Investors have warned First Republic may become the fourth regional bank in the US to fail this month, despite major US banks depositing $30bn into the struggling lender last week.

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate and Signature Bank, the California-based bank seemed at greatest risk of failure, until last Friday (17 March), when a deal was reached in an attempt to stabilise the bank. A coalition of 11 Wall Street banks deposited cash to help shore up First Republic: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo deposited $5bn each; Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley deposited $2.5bn each; and BNY Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist and US Bank deposited $1bn each. However, the $30bn bailout was described as "a sticking pla...