Second Bank Closure Due To Uncertainty

The United States (US) authorities shut down New York-based financial institution Signature Bank yesterday, CNBC news channel reported.

Signature Bank which is a major lender in the cryptocurrency sector, is closed to prevent the banking failure from spreading further.

"We also announced similar systemic preventive measures for Signature Bank in New York which was closed today (yesterday) by state banking authorities," the Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a joint statement.

The move came two days after the largest bank in Silicon Valley, SVB closed.

Banking authorities said all Signature Bank depositors will have full access to their savings. Similar assurances were given to depositors of the collapsed SVB bank that they would get their money back.

"All depositors in this institution will be paid. As with the settlement with SVB, no losses will be incurred using taxpayers' money," the authorities said.

Authorities closed SVB last Friday and took over its deposits in the biggest banking failure in the US since the 2008 financial crisis and the second largest in history.

The dramatic move comes days after Signature Bank reported difficulties, sparking panic withdrawals by depositors.

Signature Bank is one of the leading banks in the cryptocurrency industry and the largest besides Silvergate which announced its bankruptcy last week. Silvergate has a market value of US$4.4 billion (RM19.7 billion) as of last Friday after selling 40 percent of its assets this year.

As of December 31, Signature Bank had total assets of US$110.4 billion (RM495.1 billion) and total deposits of US$88.6 billion (RM397.7 billion), according to securities filings.

In order to limit the damage and contain a larger crisis, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve established an emergency program to support Signature Bank and SVB deposits through the Federal Reserve's emergency powers.

FDIC deposit insurance funds will be used to pay depositors, many of whom do not take out additional insurance following the government's guarantee that they will pay depositors up to US$250,000 (RM1.1 million) per account.