Andrew Bailey: SVB collapse was the 'fastest passage from health to death since Barings'

Addressed Credit Suisse

Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has called the recent downfall of Silicon Valley Bank one of the quickest in history, stating that it was the “fastest passage from health to death since Barings” in the mid-1990s.

Providing evidence at the Treasury Select Committee to discuss the sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC following the collapse of its parent company, Bailey agreed with committee chair Harriett Baldwin that the events had come out of "left field". SVB failed on 10 March, making it the second biggest US banking collapse in history, after clients became concerned the bank could not cover its deposits and withdrew billions in the space of a day. The bank has now been bought by fellow US regional bank First Citizens Bank. By 13 March, its UK wing had been sold to HSBC for £1, in a de...