The official post-mortem of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) does not make for an enjoyable read. Michael S Barr, vice-chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, was tasked with conducting a rapid review of the bank’s failure, and the regulatory and supervisory circumstances surrounding it. And he does not hold back.
The harshest criticism is levelled at the bank’s own management, who fundamentally are to blame for its collapse, Mr Barr suggests, by failing “to manage basic interest rate and liquidity risk”, and its board, for failing to “oversee senior leadership and hold them accountable”.
