Silicon Valley Bank collapse: 96 hours after biggest US bank failure in 15 years

The measures taken by Biden administration as Silicon Valley Bank failed seem, at least so far, to have stemmed any broader run on banks. They came after under heavy pressure from California's tech industry to act, and fuelled several long and dramatic days in Washington and beyond The U.S. government launched emergency measures on Sunday to shore up confidence in the banking system after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, the largest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis.

The measures seem, at least so far, to have stemmed any broader run on banks. They came after under heavy pressure from California's tech industry to act, and fuelled several long and dramatic days in Washington and beyond. ALSO READ: Silicon Valley Bank crisis: Fed faces flak for ‘missing’ warning signs| 5 points

THURSDAY, MARCH 9

As U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen prepares for a Friday hearing before the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee, investors are raising concerns about a liquidity crisis at Silicon Valley Bank, sending the stock plummeting.

Questions had been swirling for weeks around the tech-focused bank, which had assets of $209 billion, and a quickening pace of withdrawals triggered alarm bells.

Amid growing concern the bank would not last the weekend, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Federal Reserve Board decide to move it into receivership.

Yellen's staff plan a meeting with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Fed and the FDIC for Friday. Officials arrive to close the bank at its Santa Clara, California headquarters before West Coast branches open, noon Eastern time.

U.S. President Joe Biden is briefed on the SVB situation by his new chief of staff Jeff Zients and former Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, who took over as director of Biden's National Economic Council on Feb. 21, as Yellen testifies for three hours in the contentious congressional hearing. Only one lawmaker asks about SVB.

Yellen assures Congress she is monitoring events surrounding "a few banks" very carefully and says any bank's financial losses are concerning.

Yellen holds a 1 p.m. Eastern virtual meeting on SVB with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, Michael Hsu, acting comptrolller of the Currency, and Mary Daly, president and CEO of the San Francisco Federal Reserve. At 2:30 p.m., Treasury issues a statement about confidence in regulators and the overall resilience of the U.S. banking system.

Yellen heads to the White House, Brain meets with her staff and holds Zoom calls in her wood-paneled office in the West Wing.

Some tech investors start offering cash to prop up their companies, others take to Twitter to push the Biden administration to act.

"Thousands of companies will fold or lay people off next week because of lack of access to accounts through no fault of their own," tweets former presidential candidate Andrew Yang in a typical message, asking Treasury to step in or risk "spreading financial contagion."

Late Friday, Treasury officials brief lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee; one Republican staffer seeks assurances the plans will not lead to more regulation.The FDIC makes a record withdrawal of $40 billion from the Treasury General Account as it seizes control of Silicon Valley Bank, an amount many times larger than any previous draws.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Regulators learn a second bank, New York-based Signature, which had almost a quarter of its deposits from the cryptocurrency sector, is facing similar liquidity problems.

U.S. Treasury staff hold virtual morning meetings, deciding to: 1) Look for a buyer; 2) provide a systemic risk exemption to protect depositors; 3) revamp the terms of a Fed facility to permit more borrowing.

Yellen meets again with Powell, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, and Gruenberg from the FDIC, and they agree to do all three. The rush is on to assure SVB's depositors that they can make payroll on Monday and get ahead of Asian markets opening on Sunday around 6 p.m. ET.