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Karl Russell and
$400
billion in total assets
Bank failures in each
year by total assets
350
$32 billion
IndyMac Bank
300
$307 billion
Washington Mutual Bank
250
200
$209 billion
Silicon Valley Bank
150
100
50
0
’01
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
’15
’17
’19
’21
’23
$400
billion in total assets
Bank failures in each
year by total assets
350
$32 billion
IndyMac Bank
300
$307 billion
Washington Mutual Bank
250
200
$209 billion
Silicon Valley Bank
150
100
50
0
’01
’02
’03
’04
’05
’06
’07
’08
’09
’10
’11
’12
’13
’14
’15
’16
’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Silicon Valley Bank on Friday became the biggest American bank to fail since the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.
The implosion of Washington Mutual, as well as the investment banks Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, was followed by a systemwide failure. From 2008 to 2015, more than 500 federally insured banks failed.
Most were small or midsize regional banks and were absorbed into other institutions, a common outcome for banks that have been put under government control. Washington Mutual, which was heavily involved in risky mortgages and became the largest bank to fail in U.S. history, was sold to JPMorgan Chase.
In recent years, fewer banks have gone under, thanks in part to stricter regulations that were put in place in the wake of the financial crisis. Before Silicon Valley Bank, the last firm to fail was in late 2020, as the coronavirus was ravaging the country.
It’s unclear whether the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will spread to the broader industry. The bank was best known for its lending to technology and health care start-ups, and it had $209 billion in assets at the end of last year — making it the nation’s 16th-largest bank. But that is still small in comparison with the top three, which hold more than a trillion each and have much more diversified business models and customer bases.
Biggest U.S. banks by total assets
1.
JPMorgan Chase
$3.20
trillion
2.
Bank of America
2.42
3.
Citibank
1.77
4.
Wells Fargo
1.72
5.
U.S. Bank
$585
billion
6.
PNC Bank
552
7.
Truist Bank
546
8.
Goldman Sachs
487
Capital One
453
9.
10.
TD Bank
387
11.
Bank of New York Mellon
325
12.
State Street Bank and Trust
298
13.
Citizens Bank
226
14.
First Republic Bank
213
15.
Morgan Stanley Private Bank
210
16.
Silicon Valley Bank
209
17.
Fifth Third Bank
206
18.
Morgan Stanley Bank
201
19.
M&T Bank
200
20.
KeyBank
188
JPMorgan Chase
1.
$3.20
trillion
Bank of America
2.
2.42
Citibank
3.
1.77
Wells Fargo
4.
1.72
U.S. Bank
5.
$585
billion
PNC Bank
6.
552
Truist Bank
7.
546
Biggest U.S.
banks by
total assets
Goldman Sachs
8.
487
Capital One
9.
453
TD Bank
10.
387
Bank of New York Mellon
11.
325
State Street Bank and Trust
12.
298
Citizens Bank
13.
226
First Republic Bank
14.
213
Morgan Stanley Private Bank
15.
210
16.
Silicon Valley Bank
209
Fifth Third Bank
17.
206
Morgan Stanley Bank
18.
201
M&T Bank
19.
200
KeyBank
20.
188
The regulation that was put in place for the nation’s biggest banks after the financial crisis includes stringent capital requirements, which means they must have a certain amount of reserves for moments of crisis, as well as stipulations about how diversified their businesses must be.
But Silicon Valley Bank and others its size do not have the same regulatory oversight. In 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed a bill that lessened scrutiny for many regional banks. Silicon Valley Bank’s chief executive, Greg Becker, was a strong supporter of the move. Among other things, it changed requirements for the amount of cash that these banks had to keep on their balance sheets to protect against shocks.
On Friday, as the trading of Silicon Valley Bank’s stock was halted and the federal government began taking over its business, several other mid-sized institutions began to feel the weight of the collapse.
Shares of the First Republic and Signature banks tumbled on Friday, with Signature down nearly 23 percent at the end of trading. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent on Friday, ending the week down 4.5 percent — its worst weekly performance of the year.
Some of the nation’s largest Wall Street firms, however, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, saw their shares nudge higher.
Rob Copeland, Emily Flitter and Joe Rennison contributed reporting.
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