HSBC acquires Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1

Following a tense weekend that saw the collapse of prolific tech sector financier Silicon Valley Bank, a move that affected its subsidiary branches, including SVB UK, HSBC UK is acquiring Silicon Valley Bank UK for a symbolic £1.

Facilitated by the Bank of England, as of this morning all customers of SVB UK will be able to access their deposits and banking services as normal.

In a statement, HSBC added:

“As at 10 March 2023, SVB UK had loans of around £5.5bn and deposits of around £6.7bn. For the financial year ending 31 December 2022, SVB UK recorded a profit before tax of £88m. SVB UK's tangible equity is expected to be around £1.4bn. Final calculation of the gain arising from the acquisition will be provided in due course. The assets and liabilities of the parent companies of SVB UK are excluded from the transaction. The transaction completes immediately. The acquisition will be funded from existing resources.”

Headquartered in London, HSBC is the largest bank in Europe and serves 39 million customers globally. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 trillion in assets under custody (AUC) and $4.9 trillion in assets under administration (AUA), respectively.

“The UK’s tech sector is genuinely world-leading and of huge importance to the British economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs,” commented UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt. “I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver on that promise and find a solution that will provide SVB UK’s customers with confidence.”