First Republic Bank stock falls early, despite $30 billion lifeline

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Shares of California’s First Republic Bank continued to fall in early trading Friday despite a $30 billion lifeline the bank received late Thursday, reflecting continuing fears in the market after a week of banking turmoil.

The bank’s stock declined by 20 percent in the first hour of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, reversing a late Thursday rally after the nation’s biggest banks announced they would deposit $30 billion into the bank. The slide comes after the beleaguered bank disclosed additional information about its finances and said it was suspending dividend payments to shareholders.

Federal officials helped organize the First Republic intervention, hoping it would put an end to the fears rippling through the system after the failures of SVB and Signature Bank and troubles at Switzerland’s Credit Suisse.

Silicon Valley Bank’s parent company, meanwhile, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, just a week after the financial company was seized by regulators and customers rushed to withdraw their money.

Shares of Credit Suisse and some regional U.S. banks also continued to come under pressure Friday.

The continued market gyrations cap a week of extreme highs and lows in global banking, showing that markets remain unsettled despite several government and private-sector rescue packages in the United States and Switzerland, and repeated statements of confidence by the Western world’s top banking regulators.

The rollercoaster began with a bank run on SVB last week, followed by a federal intervention over the weekend to guarantee the bank’s deposits. Regulators soon after closed New York-based Signature Bank and moved to guarantee its deposits, too. Tensions then shifted to Europe, where Credit Suisse stock plummeted after the 167-year-old giant bank reported problems related to its financial report, prompting Switzerland’s central bank to offer up to $54 billion in emergency loans. That intervention, along with Thursday’s rescue effort for First Republic, appeared to calm some fears — but Friday trading shows that jitters remain.

The bankruptcy proceedings involve only SVB Financial Group, the bank’s parent company, which says it believes it has $2.2 billion of liquidity. The bankruptcy proceeding does not include SVB Capital, a venture capital private credit entity. It also does not include SVB Securities, a broker-dealer under its own management. And, at present, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, the bank created in the wake of the federal takeover, is operating independently and isn’t part of the proceedings.

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“The Chapter 11 process will allow SVB Financial Group to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets, especially SVB Capital and SVB Securities,” said William Kosturos, chief restructuring officer for SVB Financial Group. “SVB Capital and SVB Securities continue to operate and serve clients, led by their longstanding and independent leadership teams.”

“SVB Financial Group will continue to work cooperatively with Silicon Valley Bridge Bank,” Kosturos continued. “We are committed to finding practical solutions to maximize the recoverable value for stakeholders of both entities.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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