Marinscope
The 16th largest bank in the United States, Silicon Valley Bank, financially collapsed last week, forcing the U.S. government to step in and guarantee depositors money.
SVB’s failure was followed closely by the failure of Signature Bank. Its depositors were also protected by the federal government.
Both banks were known for their “woke” management and policies.
SVB said in its latest proxy statement that “The board values representation that reflects diversity in other important categories, including gender, age and race/ethnicity as veteran status, sexual orientation and geography.
The company also touted that the board of trustees compromised 45 percent women and had one Black person and one LGBTQ+ person.
The board, however, only had one person with banking experience.
The bank said that it used “DEI metrics dashboards to advance accountability and representation.”
Racial and sex quotas were set for senior bank employees.
Last year the bank pledged to give $5 billion in loans to “support sustainability efforts” within the next five years.
The bank also set a goal for carbon neutrality by 2023.
But the bank let the job of chief risk officer sit vacant for the last eight months.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that he supports the moves by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to step in as receiver for the bank. Newsom is a customer of the bank.
“Over the last 48 hours, I have been in touch with the highest levels of leadership at the White House and Treasury,” Newsom said. “Everyone is working with FDIC to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, to protect jobs, people’s livelihoods, and the entire innovation ecosystem that has served as a tent pole for our economy.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that funding for affordable housing projects could be stalled or delayed.
“The bank has invested and loaned out more than $2 billion for housing since 2002, it said on its website, listing projects including the Berkeley Way and Hope Center and the 1036 Mission Street Apartments in San Francisco among many others,” SFChron reported adding:
“Still, experts told The Chronicle on Friday that the bank’s collapse was not likely a harbinger of a 2008-style financial crisis, and that depositors with less than $250,000 in their accounts should not be concerned at all.”
President Joe Biden said Monday (March 13) that his administration will fire all of the bank’s managers as federal regulators seize control of the sputtering institution.
Leave a Reply