News

March 13, 2023

Rescue deal: HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank UK

The sale means all customers can access deposits and use banking services as normal today


Amy Lewin

2 min read

Credit: Joshua Lawrence

HSBC has bought Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1 in a rescue deal confirmed this morning in a statement from the UK Treasury.

This means customers of SVB UK will be able to access their deposits and banking services as normal from today, the statement confirms. Customer deposits have been protected, and "no taxpayer money is involved".

UK government ministers and the Bank of England worked through the night finalising the deal before markets opened on Monday morning.

Advertisement

For the £1 cost, HSBC will take on the accounts of SVB UK's 3,500 customers with deposits worth more than £6.7bn. SVB UK's total balance sheet totals £8.8bn.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in the Treasury statement: “The UK’s tech sector is genuinely world-leading and of huge importance to the British economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver on that promise and find a solution that will provide SVB UK’s customers with confidence.

"HSBC is Europe’s largest bank, and SVB UK customers should feel reassured by the strength, safety and security that brings them."

“The government deserves huge credit. From the very top, to HM Treasury who understood the challenge and gripped it, to the huge number of civil servants who have likely not slept since Friday. They have saved hundreds of the UK’s most innovative companies today,” said Dom Hallas, executive director at startup lobby group Coadec.

Several other parties expressed interest in buying the bank, which collapsed on Friday. The Bank of London, a two-year-old clearing bank, also submitted a formal proposal on Sunday evening.

Amy Lewin

Amy Lewin is Sifted’s editor and cohost of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast , and writes Up Round, a weekly newsletter on VC. Follow her on X and LinkedIn