SVB Fallout
The Digital Age Ushers in a Speedier, More Viral Breed of Bank Run
Talk of Silicon Valley Bank’s “weird” balance sheet moved like lightning through its depositor base.
‘Bloomberg Technology: SVB Fallout Special’ (03/10/2023)
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Donald Powell can still remember the time more than three decades ago when the bank he ran in Texas was on the verge of failing. The First National Bank of Amarillo was in so much trouble that he picked up the phone to warn the Federal Reserve there could be a run. There wasn’t—the bank survived, and Powell went on to be chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 2001 to 2005. As Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, he could only marvel at how speedy bank runs have gotten.
A run used to be “much slower,” he says. Now, “it’s like a rocket ship.”