KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Days after the largest U.S. bank collapse since 2008, experts are trying to ease the panic. Silicon Valley Bank was the second-largest bank failure in history.
On Friday, news dropped that Silicon Valley bank had failed. It forced regulators to step in and fill the void.
“The bank mismanaged their liquidity, absolutely,” Nathan Mauck, professor of finance at UMKC said.
Two factors went into SVB failing:
First, 80% of their deposits were uninsured, meaning that those deposits surpassed the $250,000 that every customer is automatically covered by the federal government.
Second, higher interest rates.
When interest rates climb, the value of bonds held by banks goes down. Bonds that can be sold to guarantee banks have enough to cover withdrawals. SVB’s bonds lost so much value, they could no longer do so.
“No matter what would happen to any bank, your deposits are safe. There’s no reason to panic,” Mauck said.
But for most people who don’t have more than $250,000 worth of deposits, you are fine.
Financial ratings agency Moody’s put six other banks at potential risk for a downgrade.
One of those banks is UMB, the largest bank in Kansas City.
In a statement to FOX4, a UMB spokesperson said:
“We respectfully disagree with Moody’s analysis and overall rationale for the review. The rationale for the review is their perceived view about our elevated level of uninsured deposits and the unrealized dosses embedded in our securities portfolio.”
The bank then went on to say the agency lacked understanding of how UMB handles its bond portfolio — a point Mauck agrees with.
“A fundamentally sound bank, so I do not think that it is like Silicon Valley Bank. It’s in solid shape,” Mauck said.
Mauck said customers who would — in a worst-case scenario — be affected are businesses and those who are considerably wealthy.
While some say taxpayers won’t be on the hook for protecting SVB’s customers, other bank customers might be.
That’s because experts say banks cover the costs of FDIC insurance. In the end, it could pass any additional costs down to consumers in the form of higher fees.
But Mauck said what was at risk here was so small, and regulators stepped in so quickly that a true crisis may have been averted.