- HSBC bought the UK arm of collapsed US bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for £1.
- SVB collapsed last week, sending shock waves across the banking and finance industry as well as crypto.
- Businesses and customers can now continue to access withdrawals as normal.
HSBC, the British multinational bank and financial services giant, has acquired the UK arm of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.
According to a BBC news report on Monday, HSBC has scooped up the SVB unit for just £1.
Bank of England and HM Treasury work to help SVB customers
The last few days have been a real scare to millions of bank customers and businesses, not just in the US but also in the UK. The main story here has been the demise of Silicon Valley Bank – deemed the second largest such banking collapse in US history in terms of the amount of money involved.
The market reaction was drastic, with bank stocks hit hard as contagion fears mounted. Cryptocurrencies also plummeted as Silicon Valley Bank was one of the main crypto-friendly banks, alongside Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank. As CoinJournal reported earlier today, US authorities have shut down the latter.
As the US Treasury and FDIC worked to avert a calamity for SVB depositors, including moving to shut down Signature Bank, authorities in the UK also took cue to help UK-based customers. This is after hundreds of tech firms had sounded the alarm as SVB collapsed.
The Bank of England and the UK government reportedly worked overnight Sunday to strike a deal between SVB (UK) and HSBC. With the acquisition now in place, around 3,000 businesses are set to access their money.
According to a news update from the HM Treasury, the HSBC-SVB deal did not involve any taxpayer money.