Lessons learnt: On the Silicon Valley Bank episode
The HinduA faltering bank, this time on the U.S. West Coast, sparked a déjà vu moment across global markets last week as fears of a Lehman redux triggered sharp declines in banking stocks worldwide and saw investors make a beeline for safe haven assets such as gold. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation first took over the Silicon Valley Bank in California, and on Sunday took control of New York-based Signature Bank and in concert with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced that depositors in both the banks would be repaid in full. The bank had also invested extensively in a portfolio of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage bonds, which had as a result of the recent sharp interest rate increases by an inflation-battling central bank accumulated unrealised losses that became too costly to liquidate in a distress situation. The Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines of 2018 advising banks to create an Investment Fluctuation Reserve is just the kind of countercyclical tool that has relatively insulated Indian lenders from interest rate risks.