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OPINION: The run on Silicon Valley Bank

Investors queue at SVB
Investors queue to withdraw funds from SVB. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Risk management failures, regulation-lite and non-sticky clients brought down the ‘unicorn’ bank.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was 40 years old and the 16th largest lender in the US. Its downfall took less than 40 hours. Depositors sought to withdraw $42bn in a dizzyingly fast ‘run’ on March 9.

It was one of three US lenders that went under in the same week. The woes experienced