After the bankruptcy of the SVB, the quick search for a buyer for its British subsidiary
HSBC has concluded negotiations to take over the British subsidiary of SVB for a symbolic pound.
Here, the broken Silicon Valley Bank logo, March 13, 2023. © Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
While the authorities are still trying to reassure the markets after the collapse of the American bank Silicon Valley bank (SVB), the banking giant HSBC bought the British branch on Monday March 13 for a symbolic pound.
The lightning operation was played out in the space of a few hours to avoid contagion and panic in the United Kingdom.
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It didn't take much for the billions of pounds deposited by British SVB savers to vanish into thin air.
Last Wednesday, a few minutes
after the announcement of the bankruptcy of the parent company
, the head of the UK branch of the bank was on a teleconference zoom meeting with 300 British Tech leaders
to try to reassure them
, reports
the
Financial daily.
times
.
But the balance in the bank's coffers had already passed in 24 hours from 10 to 7 billion pounds.
Friday morning, the intervention of the Bank of England started the countdown: the institution threatened the British subsidiary with liquidation proceedings if a buyer did not come forward.
All to save around £5.5 billion in loans and around £6.7 billion in deposits…before the stock market opened on Monday.
Several banks have shown interest, but it was with HSBC that discussions intensified on Sunday.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,
who was on his way to a summit in California,
validated the transaction from the plane for a symbolic pound, calling the HSBC official in person to express his relief.
Relief also for the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, in full preparation of the budget and who was able to avoid contagion to the British banking sector.
► To read also: Bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank: bitcoin makes fun of the setbacks of American finance
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