Near Miss: A Bank Collapse and a Crisis Averted 03/13/23

Did we dodge the bullet? Federal agencies on Sunday approved plans to safeguard depositors affected by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, and the Federal Reserve is creating a Bank Term Funding Program to secure financial institutions from instability amid the SVB failure. Squawk Box’s Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin and Steve Liesman discuss the near-miss, how government action prevented a broader financial crisis, and the moral hazard of the federal action.  Alexis Ohanian, venture capitalist and Reddit co-founder, describes the 72 hours of chaos experienced by young, start-up companies following the shutdown of Silicon Valley Bank.  The veteran entrepreneur who also funds early-stage companies said venture capitalists raised the alarm but should say “thank you” for the government backstop.  And, Camp cp-founder Ben Kaufman runs his business from the funds in his Silicon Valley Bank account; he shares the anxiety he felt over the weekend, looking for a cash infusion. 

In this episode:

Alexis Ohanian,@alexisohanian

Ben Kaufman, @benkaufman

Steve Liesman, @steveliesman

Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin
Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick

Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie