This needs to be the narrative. It's not entirely misleading either. And that also applies to the East Palestine catastrophe.
The other problem seems to be that the Silicon Valley Bank was too concentrated in the Tech Industry. It's not a traditional bank. It also serves a very big group of high net worth individuals it seems, who have no idea I guess on how to manage their money.
Silicon Valley Bank's name tells you exactly what you need to know. It's a commercial bank for Silicon Valley. And yes, they gambled with money of depositors irresponsibly.
There are plenty of specialized commercial banks. But not all of them have leadership as complacent as SVB.
Just go to the Yelp Reviews for Silcon Valley Bank. There have been warning signs for years.https://www.yelp.com/biz/silicon-valley-bank-santa-clara
It seems like a giant ponzi scheme to me.
Oof, some of these reviews.
"This isn't a bank, it's a joke. While I did love being able to time travel back to the 90's in their web interface and all, I just don't see why I should pay almost $200 per month for the privilege. It was a waste of time opening the account. Silicon Valley? Ha, as if. This is the myspace of banks."
"Worst bank ever. Boston Private was fantastic. Now I am part of a complete mess. Login never works; locked out of my account regularly; no private banker anymore; no phone numbers listed on the website; no one has a clue what they're doing. Talked to 4 different people to reset a password. WTF?!
Called First Republic Bank yesterday. Met with a private banker. Great service so far, and their online banking platform actually works! They even gave me cookies when I went in the office!
Call First Republic Bank. They know what they are doing."
"While the executive idiots were spending wildly on their ESG and DEI nonsense, touting all their progressive initiatives, supporting the liberal leftist socialist agenda, and wasting resources on false virtue signalling, SOMEONE FORGOT TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE ACTUAL BOTTOM LINE!!! Now we've had the bay area's most prestigious bank close so we can't even get in to get money! Showing up to get money out the other day and being denied was the scariest feeling one could have! How will I pay bills? Get groceries? Literally everything frozen! Just another failure in the Get Woke Go Broke saga of Califailya. I'm leaving this state and moving to physical assets. I'm done with the progressive nonsense where virtue signalling is put above common sense and stability!"
"My first visit at this bank is the worse I have ever experienced at a bank. I had a question verifying one of the accounts was active. The manager came out and rudely told me to step behind the red line which was more than an arm lengths away which means I would have to shout to the teller about my sensitive information where everyone in the room can hear me including the guard. They end up not helping me and never answered my question. Do not do business hear. They do bot operate like a real bank. You will see..."
"Randomly started charging $200/mo for a basic checking account that used to be free, with nothing but an email notification as heads up. Customer support has no intention of refunding or doing anything else to retain their customers. Will be cancelling our account and switching to any better bank, like BoA, Chase, etc, that doesn't overcharge their customers for basic services, and has usable mobile check deposits. For a company called "Silicon Valley Bank" you would think they would have a usable mobile banking app, no?"
"The WORST BANK. Charges inflated fees. Customer service horrible. I drove to one of their locations that showed open online and it was closed down. Called another location and no one answered. Hands down the worst bank ever. AVOID AVOID AVOID"
Not a single positive review.
While I don't think I can say it's a ponzi scheme...yet...the fact I can't rule it out speaks to the failure of this bank to have good corporate governance.
