Two years ago, the US was on the brink of its most serious set of bank failures since the financial storm of 2008. A clutch of regional banks, some the size of Europe’s larger lenders, hit the skids, including Silicon Valley Bank, whose demise came close to sparking a full-blown crisis. SVB’s crash had several immediate causes. Its bond holdings were crumbling in value as US interest rates pushed higher. With just a few taps on an app, the bank’s spooked and interconnected tech customer base yanked out deposits at an unsustainable pace, leaving multimillionaires crying out for federal assistance.
两年前，美国面临自2008年金融风暴以来最严重的银行倒闭危机。一批地区性银行，其中一些规模与欧洲的大型贷款机构相当，陷入困境，包括硅谷银行(SVB)，其倒闭几乎引发了一场全面危机。硅谷银行的倒闭有几个直接原因。随着美国利率上升，其债券持有价值不断下跌。只需轻点几下应用程序，该银行受到惊吓且相互关联的科技客户群就会以不可持续的速度取出存款，导致千万富翁们大声疾呼，要求联邦政府提供援助。