The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is looking to make another attempt at auctioning assets of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after failing to find a buyer the first time.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the FDIC informed Senate Republicans that the 9agency had more flexibility to sell SVB’s assets after regulators labeled the bank’s collapse a threat to the financial system, with the report citing anonymous sources.
Per the report, the lender being declared “systemic” gives the FDIC more room to offer potential buyers incentives such as loss-sharing agreements. Meanwhile, a set timetable for the next auction remains unknown.
SVB was the 16th-largest bank in the United States. California regulators shut it down on March 10, with the FDIC taking control of the bank’s assets after the lender experienced a bank run.
The agency created Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB) and transferred insured deposits of SVB to DINB as a way to protect insured depositors.
The FDIC, which said that all insured depositors would have access to their funds by March 13, started the auctioning process of SVB’s assets on March 11, keeping bids open till March 12.
However, according to the WSJ report, no major US bank offered a bid for the lender, while the FDIC also rejected an offer that another institution made.
Following SVB’s collapse, HSBC UK Bank acquired the lender’s UK subsidiary for just £1 ($1.21). United States President Joe Biden also said that US taxpayers would not bear the losses resulting from the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank.
