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Rapid Rate Hikes Played Role in SVB Collapse: PBOC Official

Many Chinese tech start-ups, especially those with dollar funding, have opened US accounts at the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Photo: Reuters

A senior official at the People’s Bank of China says the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) shows how quick monetary policy shifts were having spillover effects, state-owned newspaper Shanghai Securities News reported.

Xuan Changneng, a deputy governor at the People’s Bank of China, told the Global Asset Management Forum in Beijing on Saturday that some financial institutions had grown accustomed to running their balance sheets in an environment of low interest rate volatility and lacked sensitivity to short-term and large fluctuations in rates.

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Silicon Valley Bank’s balance sheet characteristics made it more sensitive to interest rates changes and ultimately led to risk, the newspaper cited him as saying.

“Based on the current situation, there is still uncertainty about whether inflation in the major developed economies will fall significantly in the short term, and continuing to maintain relatively high interest rates may also have an adverse impact on the steady operations of the banking and financial system,” he said.

SVB Financial Group on Friday sought protection under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code, days after its former unit Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by US regulators.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.