Silicon Valley Bank’s former chief executive Greg Becker plans to blame an “unprecedented” run on deposits fuelled by “rumours and misconceptions” for the collapse of the lender, according to testimony released ahead of a high-stakes congressional hearing.
In his first public appearance since the collapse of SVB on March 10, which triggered the worst bout of banking turmoil since the 2008 crisis, Becker is expected to say that no lender “could survive a bank run of that velocity and magnitude”.
According to pre-written testimony ahead of a grilling on Tuesday in front of the Senate banking committee, Becker said he was “devastated” by the collapse of SVB — which now ranks as the third-largest US bank failure — and “truly sorry” for the impact on staff, clients and investors.