Allowing Silicon Valley Bank UK to fail ‘would have caused domino effect’

FCA’s chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, outlines to MPs what led to HSBC’s takeover of the bank for just £1

Allowing Silicon Valley Bank UK to fail would have caused a domino effect across the City, putting a number of regulated firms at risk of collapse, the boss of the Financial Conduct Authority has said.

The FCA’s chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, outlined the watchdog’s assessments in a letter to MPs on the Treasury committee, as he detailed the hectic weekend of 10 March that started with a bank run on SVB UK’s deposits and ended with authorities facilitating HSBC’s takeover of the bank for just £1.