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- Regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank on Friday following a catastrophic bank run.
- Silicon Valley Bank had $209 billion in assets as of the end of 2022, according to the FDIC.
- The largest bank failure before that was Washington Mutual in 2008, which had $307 billion in assets.
Regulators closed down Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, making it the largest bank failure in the US since the 2008 financial crisis.
Silicon Valley Bank, a vaunted institution for tech startups, closed down with some $209 billion in assets and about $175 billion in deposits as of the end of last year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency which helps protect many customers' bank deposits.
The size of the failure is second only to Washington Mutual Bank's closure during the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008. Washington Mutual was shut with $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits, according to FDIC data.
SVB's collapse is a bigger shock than Washington Mutual's demise, which came after months of rising concern over the Seattle-based bank's risky home loans. This time, SVB went from a seemingly stable financial institution to collapse in a matter of days.
The US banking system as a whole has also seen a period of calm in recent years. In 2020 and 2021, there were no bank failures at all. That compares to 25 in 2008, 140 in 2009, and 157 in 2010.
Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, after the bank's stock plunged 60% in the wake of losses from its sale of $21 billion in bond investments.
A representative for Silicon Valley Bank did not immediately respond to Insider's emailed request for comment on Friday.
FDIC, now the official receiver for Silicon Valley Bank, said it has taken measures to safeguard customers. The agency said it has moved SVB insured deposits from the bank to a vehicle called "Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara," according to its statement Friday.
The FDIC also said it was working to offer recoveries for uninsured customers, saying it would provide them "an advance dividend within the next week."
Before Washington Mutual, the failure of the Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust in 1984 was the largest with $40 billion in assets, according to Reuters.