Agence France-Presse quoted a source as saying that US authorities have asked several financial institutions to submit offers to buy the assets of First Republic, which has been struggling since mid-March.
The source added that offers from 4 or 6 institutions are expected, at a time when First Republic has been under severe pressure since the collapse of two similar banks in early March.
The bank failed to come up with a satisfactory bailout and its share, already in poor shape, plunged after confirming on Monday evening that many of its customers had withdrawn in the first quarter their deposits estimated at more than $100 billion, leading authorities to intervene in the file.
The agency in charge of guaranteeing bank deposits and the Ministry of Economy contacted several banks in the middle of the week that may be interested in acquiring First Republic, according to the source, who explained that the authorities last Friday allowed a number of institutions to see more financial information about the troubled bank.
According to several US media outlets, the deposit insurance agency will initially manage the bank, which had assets of $233 billion at the end of March.
The Federal Insurance Agency will quickly sell part or all of the bank's assets to another institution.
According to CNBC, if the deal goes that way, it could be announced as early as Monday.
Failures on Silicon Valley Bank collapse
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve called in a report published last Friday for more banking supervision, acknowledging its failures regarding the collapse of Silicon Valley SVB last month.
Michael Barr, the Fed's vice chairman for supervision, said in a statement accompanying the report that "after the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank, we must strengthen the Fed's oversight and regulatory functions based on what we have learned."
Silicon Valley management failed to properly manage risk before the bank's rapid collapse, while Fed supervisors failed to take strong enough action after spotting problems at the tech bank, he said.
The collapse of the bank on the tenth of last March - after bearing a lot of interest rate risks - caused repercussions that affected the entire banking sector, which led to the collapse of another regional US bank, and the Swiss bank "UBS" acquired its rival "Credit Suisse".
The Fed report concluded that it "did not appreciate the seriousness of critical deficiencies in company management, liquidity and interest rate risk" during the doubling of Silicon Valley Bank's assets between 2019-2021 amid the high-tech boom.
Michael Barr said the Fed would consider strengthening its banking supervision to ensure it can identify risks and vulnerabilities more quickly, strengthen banks' regulatory framework, and tighten rules around interest rate risk, liquidity and capital requirements.
A senior Fed official told reporters before the report was released that the review would be far-reaching and would look more broadly at the Fed's rules on liquidity and capital.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a statement that he welcomed Barr's report and "self-criticism" on Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
"I agree with and support his recommendations to deal with our rules and regulatory practices, and I am confident they will lead to a stronger and more resilient banking system," Powell said.