The Napa offices of Silicon Valley Bank have been closed since March 10.
First Citizens Bank announced Sunday its purchase of Silicon Valley Bank, whose failure earlier this month sent jitters throughout the financial world.
First Citizens agreed to buy about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bank’s assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, according to the Associated Press. About $90 billion in assets remain in receivership of the FDIC, which took control of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after federal examiners determined the Santa Clara-based bank was insolvent following a year incurring steep losses due to increased interest rates and downturns in the tech industry, where a large portion of SVB’s investments were directed. A bank run from skittish investors sealed SVB’s fate, becoming the largest bank failure since the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
In order to stave off a larger banking crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other regulators had guaranteed all depositors in SVB—as well as Signature Bank, which crumbled two days after SVB—their money, including funds above and beyond the $250,000 limit insured by the FDIC.
The First Citizens deal seemed to embolden financial markets early this week, with stock values stabilizing for PacWest Bancorp, First Republic and other banks deemed most vulnerable to the kind of bank run that sank SVB.
