HSBC has acquired the the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after the US bank collapsed last week.
The deal ensures that the bank’s services will continue to operate as normal in the UK.
Serving just over 3,000 business customers, Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd had loans of around £5.5bn and deposits of around £6.7bn as of 10 March 2023.
SVB specialised in lending to technology companies.
“This acquisition makes excellent strategic sense for our business in the UK,” said Noel Quinn, HSBC Group CEO. “It strengthens our commercial banking franchise and enhances our ability to serve innovative and fast-growing firms, including in the technology and life-science sectors, in the UK and internationally.”
HSBC acquired SVB UK for £1 in a transaction that was facilitated by the Bank of England, in consultation with the Treasury, using powers granted by the Banking Act 2009. No taxpayer money was involved in the sale.
“Making use of post-crisis banking reforms, which introduced powers to safely manage the failure of banks, this sale has protected both the customers of SVB UK and taxpayers,” the Treasury said in a statement.
