HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn said the acquisition makes “excellent strategic sense” for the bank’s UK business and strengthens its commercial banking franchise and enhances the ability to serve innovative and fast-growing firms, including in the technology and life-science sectors, in the UK and internationally.
“We welcome SVB UK’s customers to HSBC and look forward to helping them grow in the UK and around the world. SVB UK customers can continue to bank as usual, safe in the knowledge that their deposits are backed by the strength, safety and security of HSBC. We warmly welcome SVB UK colleagues to HSBC, we are excited to start working with them,” Quinn said in a statement.
The move comes after US authorities moved to shore up deposits and stem any wider fallout from the sudden collapse of its parent, tech startup lender Silicon Valley Bank.
“This morning, the Government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC Deposits will be protected, with no taxpayer support I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver that promise,” tweeted UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
This morning, the Government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC… https://t.co/4GDyas2rlN
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) 1678690815000
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As of March 10, Silicon Valley Bank UK Limited had loans of around £5.5 billion and deposits of around £6.7 billion, HSBC said.
SVB UK’s tangible equity is expected to be around £1.4 billion, HSBC said. It will complete the transaction immediately and fund it from the bank’s existing resources. Further, the assets and liabilities of the parent companies of SVB UK are excluded from the transaction.
However, unlike the United States, Britain has not announced broader liquidity measures for the banking system.
