Account holders SVB can freely withdraw credits, HSBC takes over the British branch

Account holders of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which was declared bankrupt on Friday, can freely withdraw their balances from Monday. The US governments are guarantors. The measures are intended to prevent “further contagion of the financial system”, the US Treasury Department, the central bank and the regulator FDIC write in a joint statement on Sunday.

The British part of the SVB is taken over for the symbolic sum of one pound by HSBC, one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom. HSBC and the British Treasury report this in separate statements on Monday. “We were facing a situation where we could have seen some of our most important businesses – our most strategic businesses – wiped out, and that would have been extremely dangerous,” Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt said.

Although SVB is only the fifteenth largest bank in the United States with more than 175 billion dollars (164 billion euros) in assets, it is a major player for tech companies. Many of them have deposited millions in the bank and would only get back $ 250,000 (234,000 euros) without intervention. The tech bank is also the “backbone” for many Dutch start-ups active in Silicon Valley. The Dutch biotech company Pharming, which has placed 45 million dollars (42 million euros) with SVB, stated on Monday morning that it expects to gain full access to its American assets today. As for the $19 million held in UK accounts, the company continues to “actively monitor the situation.”