Tag: Banking and Financial Institutions

Silicon Valley Bank’s Risks Went Deep. Congress Wants to Know Why.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top financial regulators will face a grilling from lawmakers on Tuesday over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank as they push to understand why the firm was allowed to grow so rapidly and build up so much risk that it failed, requiring a government rescue for depositors and sending shock waves […]

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Fed Vice Chair Calls Silicon Valley Bank a ‘Textbook Case of Mismanagement’

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision blamed Silicon Valley Bank’s demise on poor internal management and excessive risk-taking and detailed the steps that Fed supervisors took to address the snowballing problems that ultimately killed the company, according to prepared remarks ahead of a congressional hearing on Tuesday. The vice chair, Michael Barr, […]

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After Doling Out Huge Loans, China Is Now Bailing Out Countries

Since the end of World War II, the International Monetary Fund and the United States have been the world’s lenders of last resort, each wielding broad influence over the global economy. Now a new heavyweight has emerged in providing emergency loans to debt-ridden countries: China. New data shows that China is providing ever more emergency […]

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Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse Chills Start-Up Funding

Jonathan Nelson had lined up commitments for $2 million in new funding for his financial technology start-up, HF.Capital, from two investors last month. He was aiming for $2.5 million and thought securing the rest would be “perfunctory.” Then 67 investors turned him down. In mid-March, his initial investors backed out, too. Mr. Nelson was initially […]

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First Citizens to Acquire Silicon Valley Bank

First Citizens BancShares will acquire Silicon Valley Bank, the California lender whose collapse this month sent shock waves across the financial sector. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized control of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, after a run on deposits had left it insolvent. The F.D.I.C., which announced the deal late Sunday, has since […]

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As Banking Worries Swirl, Europe’s Policymakers Express Confidence, With Caution

For a bank, a loss of confidence is a fatal blow. After that occurred at several banks in the United States and Switzerland in the past few weeks, policymakers in the eurozone have been trying to shore up confidence in the region’s banking sector. At a conference in Frankfurt last week, representatives from the European […]

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How China Keeps Putting Off Its ‘Lehman Moment’

HONG KONG — Remember the Evergrande crisis? It was little more than a year ago that Evergrande Group, the Chinese property developer, was about to collapse under more than $300 billion in debt. There were warnings of a catastrophic default that would ripple through China’s economy, maybe even set off a global depression. China, it […]

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Support Grows to Have Russia Pay for Ukraine’s Rebuilding

When the World Bank released its latest damage assessment of war-torn Ukraine this week, it announced that the price of recovery and rebuilding had grown to $411 billion. What it didn’t say, though, was who would pay for it. To Ukraine, the answer seems obvious: Confiscate the roughly $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets […]

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How Far Will the Fed Have to Go to Tame Inflation?

Ordinary reality doesn’t change depending on whether you believe in it or not, as Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist and science educator, likes to observe. But ordinary reality isn’t the world central bankers live in. They live in a world of self-fulfilling expectations. We saw that this week when Jerome Powell, the chair of the […]

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This Column Is Dedicated to Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists

Bust out your tiniest violin, because I’m about to stand up for Silicon Valley venture capitalists. The industry is not nearly as insufferable and out of touch as some of its blustering online influencers might lead you to believe. And despite its recent troubles, the world continues to need places like Silicon Valley and its […]

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TikTok’s C.E.O. Struggles to Make his Case in Washington

TikTok’s tough day in Congress The C.E.O. of TikTok was grilled for nearly five hours in Congress on Thursday about his company’s ties to China, and his testimony did little to suggest the video platform’s problems are over. The aggressive questioning of Shou Chew has only added fuel to fiery U.S.-China relations and highlighted TikTok’s […]

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Bond Trading May Be Sending a Recession Warning

In the typically tame market for government bonds, investors have been left reeling from some of the most chaotic trading conditions they have ever seen, entrenching concerns about the broader economy since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. It’s the kind of trading that makes the often more turbulent stock market seem calm: While the […]

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The Fed Has Targeted 2% Inflation. Should It Aim Higher?

The transcript shows that he said “zero” was the proper target if “inflation was correctly measured.” But it is difficult to measure inflation accurately, as everyone in the room acknowledged. So Ms. Yellen said, “Improperly measured, I believe that heading toward 2 percent inflation would be a good idea, and that we should do so […]

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4 People Accused of $13 Million in Pro Athlete Fraud Schemes

Four people were arrested Thursday and charged with collectively defrauding four professional men’s basketball players out of more than $13 million, according to Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In one scheme, three players were allegedly persuaded to purchase more than $5 million worth of life insurance policies […]

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Banks Are Borrowing More From the Fed: What to Know

Banks are turning to the Federal Reserve’s loan programs to access funding as turmoil sweeps the financial system in the wake several high-profile bank failures. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 followed by Signature Bank on March 12 prompted depositors to pull their money from some banks and sent the stock prices […]

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Stocks Are Turbulent as Wall St. Weighs Fed’s Future Moves

Stocks rose on Thursday afternoon, after a second day of volatility in which the S&P 500 swung between gains and losses. The index rose about 0.3 percent in afternoon trading. It had earlier climbed more than 1.7 percent, but gave up most of that gain before climbing again. The big swings this week have come […]

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Investors Try to Parse Powell and Yellen’s Next Moves on Banks

No clear path on helping banks U.S. banking regulators gave investors a lot to chew on yesterday. The Federal Reserve went ahead with a quarter-point increase in interest rates, signaling that, for now, it remained more worried about inflation than banking stability. But while Jerome Powell, the central bank’s chair, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen […]

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Double-Barreled Economic Threat Puts Congress on Edge

WASHINGTON — In 2008, an imminent collapse of the banking system consumed Congress before lawmakers delivered a bailout. Three years later, a debt limit crisis enveloped Washington and led to a series of spending cuts after a dangerous brush with default and a first-ever downgrade in the nation’s credit rating. Now unease about the banking […]

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Bank of England to Weigh a Rate Increase After a Jump in Inflation

The Bank of England is set to announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday, with investors expecting a quarter-point raise, just a day after data showed that Britain’s inflation rate unexpectedly increased last month. Consumer prices rose 10.4 percent in February from a year earlier, up from 10.1 percent the month before, ending a […]

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Powell and Yellen Suggest Need to Review Regulations After Bank Failures

WASHINGTON — Two of the nation’s top economic policymakers on Wednesday said they were focused on determining how the failure of Silicon Valley Bank had happened and suggested changes to federal regulation and oversight might be needed to prevent future runs on American banks. The discussion of stricter oversight by Jerome H. Powell, the Federal […]

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Stocks Drop After Fed Raises Rates

Stocks on Wall Street skidded lower in late trading on Wednesday, as investors balked at the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates, by a quarter of a percentage point, amid a banking crisis. The S&P 500 initially jumped after the decision was announced, before falling sharply toward the end of trading, finishing 1.65 percent […]

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How the Banking Crisis Has Had the Same Effect as a Fed Rate Increase

As Wall Street braces for the Federal Reserve to — probably — raise interest rates on Wednesday, some analysts have said that the recent turmoil in the banking industry may have already generated similar effects to a rate increase, namely by slowing the economy. The Fed began raising interest rates a year ago to combat […]

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The Fed’s Unpleasant Choice

The Federal Reserve faces a difficult decision at its meeting that ends this afternoon: Should Fed officials raise interest rates in response to worrisome recent inflation data — and accept the risk of causing further problems for banks? Or should officials pause their rate increases — and accept the risk that inflation will remain high? […]

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Barney Frank on His Role in the Banking Crisis

David Enrich contributed reporting. The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, […]

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Bank Crisis Could Cast Pall Over Commercial Real Estate Market

The fallout from the recent banking crisis spurred by the collapse of two banks — and concerns about the health of a third — is bubbling up in the market for commercial real estate lending, as borrowers fear that banks will pull back. That could slow down construction activity and increase the likelihood of a […]

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Fed Meeting Holds High Stakes for Biden

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday on whether to raise rates at a precarious moment carries risks not just for the central bank, but also for President Biden. Mr. Biden was already relying on the Fed to maintain a delicate balance with its interest rate decisions, simultaneously taming rapid price growth while avoiding plunging the […]

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Investors Trade Cautiously Ahead of Pivotal Fed Decision

Reeling from the collapse of banks that prompted intervention from authorities around the world and generated violent swings in financial markets, investors, analysts and economists are sure of nothing ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates on Wednesday. Futures on the S&P 500, which give investors the ability to bet on the stock […]

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Regional Banks and Regulators Try to Soothe Depositors’ Fears

In the panic after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in early March, some small and medium-size businesses yanked their money from regional banks and deposited it with the biggest ones, seeking the security of their gigantic balance sheets and the government’s implicit backstop of lenders deemed too big to fail. Regulators, bank executives and industry representatives […]

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A ‘Rocking Chair Rebellion’: Seniors Call On Banks to Dump Big Oil

They were parents, grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles, ranging in age from their 50s to their 80s and beyond, and together they braved frigid temperatures to protest all through the night, and to rock. Bundled in long johns, puffer coats, layered knit hats and sleeping bags, and fortified by cookies sent by courier from a sympathetic […]

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A Big Question for the Fed: What Went Wrong With Bank Oversight?

WASHINGTON — Jerome H. Powell is likely to face more than the typical questions about the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision on Wednesday. The central bank chair will almost certainly be grilled about how and why his institution failed to stop problems at Silicon Valley Bank before it was too late. The collapse of […]

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