Trading Halted for Multiple Bank Stocks as Market Opens with Bloodbath
Actions by federal regulators to boost investor confidence in bank stocks appear to have had little impact, as exchanges stepped in to halt trading in four stocks Monday morning due to “volatility.”
The four stocks halted were PacWest Bancorp, Zions Bancorporation, First Republic Bank and Regions Financial.
First Republic’s shares were down nearly 75 percent shortly after markets opened after dropping by what Bloomberg said was “a record 67% at the open before trading halted.”
BREAKING: First Republic Bank shares drop by record 67% at the open before trading halted https://t.co/iB5QEbeIcX pic.twitter.com/GshnUFoIUy
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 13, 2023
In an attempt to keep the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week from causing widespread panic across the national banking system, the Treasury Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve stepped in with what Axios described as “aggressive new actions.”
(The SVB collapse is explained in detail in an exclusive report for The Western Journal’s subscribers: “The Everyman’s Guide to SVB’s Fall.” Consider subscribing to The Western Journal to read content like this and to help us combat Big Tech’s attempts to demonetize us).
Following the trading halts, U.S. stocks in general began moving in a positive direction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of stocks was up about 0.7 percent at 11:30 Eastern Monday morning.
The federal agencies cited “systemic risk” to the industry in guaranteeing all SVB depositors fully, despite the normal $250,000 limit on deposit insurance.
“Depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13,” said a joint statement from the Treasury, Fed, and FDIC.
“No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer.”
The FDIC, which is funded by banks, will cover those expenses, the statement claimed.
“Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law,” according to the statement. [Of course, those assessments will be passed on to the banks’ customers in one way or another, so in actually, all of these losses will be borne by taxpayers eventually. — Ed. note]
The joint statement can be read in its entirety here:
The following statement was released by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg:
Today we are taking decisive actions to protect the U.S. economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system. This step will ensure that the U.S. banking system continues to perform its vital roles of protecting deposits and providing access to credit to households and businesses in a manner that promotes strong and sustainable economic growth.
After receiving a recommendation from the boards of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve, and consulting with the President, Secretary Yellen approved actions enabling the FDIC to complete its resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, in a manner that fully protects all depositors. Depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer.
We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority. All depositors of this institution will be made whole. As with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, no losses will be borne by the taxpayer.
Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.
Finally, the Federal Reserve Board on Sunday announced it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors.
The U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today’s actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors’ savings remain safe.
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