What does Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse mean for the financial system?

Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly. That is how Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th-largest lender in America, with about US$200 billion (NZ$325.9b) in assets, went bust. Its financial position deteriorated over several years. But just two days elapsed between the San Francisco-based bank’s announcement on March 8 that it was seeking to raise US$2.5b to plug a hole in its balance sheet, and the declaration by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which regulates American bank deposits, that SVB had failed.SVB’s shar...