After the stunning collapse of two banks, the venture capital industry is learning the hard lesson about hear and emotional can create instability in banking.
U.S. regulators closed the Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after it experienced a traditional bank run, where depositors rushed to withdraw their funds all at once. It is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, behind only the 2008 failure of Washington Mutual. But the financial bloodletting was swift; New York-based Signature Bank also failed.
One Chicago managing partner, who founded a venture capital firm, told NBC 5 she keeps her clients diversified and is trying to calm fears after a stressful weekend.
"Public Sentiment is something we cannot predict or control," said Gale Wilkinson, managing partner of Vitalize Venture Capital. "If we had all left our capital in the bank we would have been fine. But when the bank run starts to go… there’s no stopping it.”
The developments left markets jittery as trading began Monday. The Asian and European markets fell but not dramatically, and U.S. futures were down.
In an effort to shore up confidence in the banking system, the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and FDIC said Sunday that all Silicon Valley Bank clients would be protected and able to access their money.
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President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House shortly before a trip to the West Coast, said he’d seek to hold those responsible accountable, and pressed for better oversight and regulation of larger banks. And he promised no losses would be borne by taxpayers.
“We must get the full accounting of what happened,” he said. “Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe."
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