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The CEO of the bridge bank created following Silicon Valley Bank’s failure has asked former depositors to consider moving money back to the bank.
In a statement posted on Silicon Valley Bank’s website, Tim Mayopoulos said the bank is open for business, including making new loans and honoring existing credit facilities.
“The number one thing you can do to support the future of this institution is to help us rebuild our deposit base, both by leaving deposits with Silicon Valley Bridge Bank and transferring back deposits that left over the last several days,” Mayopoulos said in the statement.
Mayopoulos, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, asked venture capital portfolio companies and other customers who had transferred money out over the past week to consider putting some deposits back into the bank “as part of a secure deposit diversification strategy.”
The bridge bank is accepting new customers, and both new and existing deposits remain fully insured by the FDIC, the statement said.
Around $42 million of SVB’s pre-failure $175.4 billion in deposits were withdrawn in the 24 hours leading up to its seizure by the FDIC, according to California’s bank regulator, with local media reports of Boston-area customers waiting in long lines to withdraw all or much of their savings from the bank filling the headlines since the bridge bank reopened SVB branches to the public Monday morning.
Some venture capitalists began campaigning last week for startups to continue to support Silicon Valley Bank. A group of venture capital firms, led by Cambridge-based General Catalyst, issued a statement on Friday noting Silicon Valley Bank’s role in the tech industry.
“Silicon Valley Bank has been a trusted and long-time partner to the venture capital industry and our founders,” the venture capitalists’ statement said. “For forty years, it has been an important platform that played a pivotal role in serving the startup community and supporting the innovation economy in the US. … In the event that SVB were to be purchased and appropriately capitalized, we would be strongly supportive and encourage our portfolio companies to resume their banking relationship with them.”
Nearly 670 firms and organizations had signed onto the statement as of March 15.
Other Massachusetts banks are already trying to lure former SVB customers, some of which it acquired when it bought the $10 billion-asset Boston Private in 2021.
Salem Five has seen deposits, primarily from businesses, transferring in from Silicon Valley Bank, said Joe Bartolotta, Salem Five’s chief marketing officer.
Without directly referencing either Silicon Valley Bank or Signature Bank, the New York lender taken down by the weekend bank run, Citizens Bank issued a statement this week saying that it had seen higher than normal interest from prospective customers over the past few days amid recent market developments. The bank yesterday began extending branch hours at some locations “to answer questions, open new accounts, advise existing customers and support the communities they serve,” the statement said.
Cambridge Trust Co. posted a note on social media on Friday that it was the only local bank with a lending group focused on growth-stage companies. The bank had not made any executives available for comment as of publication time.
Mayopoulos in his statement said Silicon Valley Bank continues to work to support the innovation economy.
“We are doing everything we can to rebuild, win back your confidence, and continue supporting the innovation economy,” he said. “We recognize the past few days have been an extremely challenging time, and we are grateful for your patience.”
