‘Treated Risk Management Like A Total Afterthought’: Tina Smith Raises Concern About SVB Failure

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) questioned witnesses about the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank & Signature Bank.

Social media - risk driver or risk mitigation tool?

It was a scene out of futuristic fiction—a decades-old bank collapsing mere hours after a social media post went viral. 

In what was supposed to be a non-event, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced they were selling securities to raise capital. Soon, subsequent Tweets questioning the health of SVB went viral. The posts prompted depositors to withdraw $42 billion within 10 hours, a devastating blow that led state regulators to close the bank. SVB wasn’t the only bank to experience a social media-induced run this year, with First Republic Bank following suit and collapsing two months later.

Read the full story HERE.

Bonds, Explained Through SVB’s Collapse

Buying U.S. government bonds is among the safest investments you can make. In fact, people often put their college funds and retirement savings into bonds. In the midst of recession fears, bonds are often referred to as “risk-free” because there are only two ways you can lose money: 

• The government defaults, which is almost certainly not going to happen, or 
• You sell the bonds early at a loss, which contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank 

This might make you wonder how safe bonds really are, so WSJ explains why they’re still a good investment.