Tuesday, 14 March 2023

How was the Silicon Valley Bank disaster not spotted a long time ago?

After the financial crash of 2008 you would have thought that the new regulations introduced by the US would have been sufficient to spot what was going on at this bank and steps taken to stop what was clearly an alarming mismatch between deposits and investment handouts. Small high-tech companies, many of them engaged in vital climate-change development programmes, queued up to get funds from the bank but no regulator thought to intervene after examining the maths. Now yet again the world markets are in turmoil, shares in banks are falling rapidly and millions of peoples' savings are wobbling. There is only one word that sums up this new financial disaster-in-the-making. Irresponsible. Irresponsible of the SVB's board to let this carry on when they must have known it was heading for the cliff edge. Now no doubt there will be further moves to tighten regulation but in the meantime will the US administration and other governments around the world be forced to use taxpayers' money to prop up failing banks, like they did in 2008. President Biden has said no but took rapid steps to make sure all the deposits in SVB were safeguarded. A second bank has already gone bankrupt and others may follow. Then what? That's the point when governments might have no other choice but to dig into taxpayers' money. At a time when everyone, except the super rich, are struggling with the increasing cost of living, that's all we need.

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