Silicon Valley Bank seized by FDIC as depositors pull cash amid crisis

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the assets of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, marking the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual during the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

The bank failed after depositors mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies began withdrawing their money creating a run on the bank.

Silicon Valley was heavily exposed to tech industry and there is little chance of contagion in the banking sector as there was in the months leading up to the Great Recession more than a decade ago. Major banks have sufficient capital to avoid a similar situation.

The FDIC ordered the closure of Silicon Valley Bank and immediately took position of all deposits at the bank Friday. The bank had USD 209 billion in assets and USD 175.4 billion in deposits as the time of failure, the FDIC said in a statement. It was unclear how much of deposits was above the USD 250,000 insurance limit at the moment.

Notably, the FDIC did not announce a .