The United Kingdom government announced on Monday that HSBC Holdings has acquired the British division of the failing Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed on Friday.
The government and the Bank of England approved the private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC this morning. According to British finance minister Jeremy Hunt, the government and the Bank of England enabled the private sale of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK branch to HSBC in order to safeguard deposits without using public funds.
“Silicon Valley Bank (UK) Ltd. has today been sold to HSBC…Customer of SVB UK will be able to access their depostis and banking services as normal from today,” announced by the British government, BOE and Treasury.
The Bank of England stated that the wider UK banking system was safe, sound, and well capitalized.
“Deposits will be protected, with no taxpayer support. I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver that promise,” Hunt said on Monday.
“HSBC is Europe’s largest bank, and SVB UK customers should feel reassured by the strength, safety and security that brings them.”
HSBC Holdings stated that it paid a purchase price of £1 as part of the transaction.
The collapse of tech startup-focused SVB Financial Group on Friday was the biggest to hit the United States since the 2008 financial crisis.
