Silicon Valley Bank’s UK unit saved by HSBC in rapid overnight rescue deal

Last night we witnessed a swift rescue mission by HSBC who saved Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) UK unit from collapse.

HSBC paid a symbolic £1 to SVB after concluding all-night talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Bank of England.

This is great news as the deal helped avert potential disaster for UK tech and life sciences innovators, of which many start-ups, investors and companies backed by venture capital funding are clients of SVB. These businesses are now able to access their deposits and accounts as normal.

No other UK banks have been reported to be directly affected. The Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey reassured the UK that the banking system remains ‘safe and well capitalised’.

The swift and decisive action taken by the UK Government and HSBC was in large part spurred by the proactive collaborative efforts of the UK tech and life sciences community and ecosystem over a fraught weekend to raise awareness both amongst the general public and also with the UK Government of the scale of the issue and how seriously a collapse of SVB could impact on businesses and investors in these sectors.

We are pleased to see this situation resolved so quickly and efficiently. If any of our clients have deposits with SVB and still have concerns, please get in touch with Mark Davison or Neil Smyth.