March 14, 2023
Regulators ordered the closure of Signature Bank, a New York-based bank, due to concerns about systemic risks that could threaten the U.S. banking system after the bank abruptly ceased operations on Sunday.
Furthermore, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized $118 billion of the bank’s assets, making it the third largest bank failure in US history, trailing only the Silicon Valley Bank and Washington Mutual bank failures.
“We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority,” the U.S. Treasury Department, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve said in a joint statement. “All depositors of this institution will be made whole. As with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, no losses will be borne by the taxpayer.”
The weekend collapse is the latest in a string of bank failures that has sent shockwaves through global financial markets, with many fearing a major banking crisis is on the way. The crypto industry has been particularly hard hit by the crisis, with Signature seen as a key bank for companies in the sector.
All Signature depositors will be made whole under the same systemic risk exception that allowed Silicon Valley Bank customers to be made whole. Meanwhile, the New York Department of Financial Services, one of Signature’s regulators, stated that it is keeping in touch with the other entities it oversees “in light of market events.”
Signature Bank is placed 3rd in the ranking of the largest US bank failures in history, with $118 billion in assets at the time of failure this year, Silicon Valley Bank is ranked second with $209 billion in assets this year, and Washington Mutual is ranked first with $307 billion in assets in 2008. Following the news, the bank’s stock dropped significantly, and it is expected to sell assets and return deposits to customers.
The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.
